An article from The News Register in McMinnville Oregon

Walker will have many tales to tell

Published: April 21, 2010

Walker will have many tales to tell

By STARLA POINTER

Of the News-Register

Christopher Lyon, who set out from Alaska on a cross-country trip March 23, walked into Yamhill County over the weekend.

Lyon began his trip as a memorial to friend Ty Chevevier, who died of sarcoma at age 35. In addition to raising cancer awareness and research money, he said the trip also has become a way of reminding people there are good folks everywhere. "I've met such great people," said Lyon, who started the actual walking part of the trek April 2 in Bellingham, Wash.

He's also gathered quite a following via electronic media. He has a blog at alaska2ct.blogspot.com that is linked to Facebook and Twitter.

His Facebook site features videos he's made along the way, including one he shot at Antonio's in Lafayette.

"I think of the videos as sort of 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives' meets 'Survivorman,'" he said, naming two popular television shows.

Lyon is a trained chef who loves to cook fusion cuisine. He has cooked for some of the people who put him up for the night and shared recipes with others.

He offers to help with chores everywhere he goes.

He'd been working as a chef in Kodiak, Alaska, when he decided to make the trip. His journey will take him down the West Coast, then across the country via the Discovery Trail, a series of non-motorized routes.

In Pennsylvania, he plans to veer off and head for his home state of Connecticut, where he has two daughters. He hopes to be there by Thanksgiving.

His trip is being facilitated, in part, by his mother, who has been calling ahead to help him find lodging. "She says, 'Please take care of my little boy,'" joked Lyon, who's 37.

At her request, the Baker Street Inn, Kelty House and Wildwood Inn all provided accommodations during Lyon's stay in Yamhill County. But he expects to do a lot of primitive camping as well.

His Internet, Facebook and Twitter followers also are a huge help, he said. They frequently send him messages of encouragement.

"Their comments keep my legs young," said Lyon, who has never done long-distance walking before this trip.

Some Internet followers have donated to cancer research in his name through the Jimmy Fund, associated with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. They also offer assistance, as do people he meets casually along the way.

In Washington, he stayed overnight with an experienced hiker who fretted about Lyon's backpack, then bought him a better one. Another night, he was invited to camp in an older couple's yard, and they sent him off the next morning with a tackle box full of fishing gear.

"I have so many great stories already," he said.

Lyon hopes to write a book about his experiences at the end of the trip. He also wants to speak to children and groups about the generosity he's found along the way.

"This is a call to humanity," he said. "This is about human caring, about caring for people you don't know ... it's incredible how much of that is out there."





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wow the support grows

Jim Raimo I sent out some e-mail's.....

Good Afternoon Jim,

Our office has received your email regarding Chris Lyon, who is walking across the country in memory of his friend, Ty Cheverier. The Governor would be happy to issue a proclamation in his honor; would you happen to have an address as to where to send it? If not, we’ll s...end it to the Ty Cheverier Open Fund-the address is in the email you sent us. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Best, Kelley

Kelley Jacobson
Staff Assistant
Office of Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell

Trek to the coast.

It's Thursday afternoon I walked about 13 miles today. I am only 1 more day away from the coast and the 101 highway down the coast to California. Need to make more miles a day but it's hard when you meet so many great people that want to help with this mission. I stayed last night at the Wildwood Inn in Willamina Oregon. A great place in the Great Northwest. Timber Town USA they call it. Having a great time. My back feels good and my feet are stone. My pack is wonderful and I lightened it up a little with a mail drop. I have been collecting memorabilia from everywhere for a scrape book and even paper starts to get heavy if you carry enough. I don't think I have an accent but people keep hearing one. (funny) My next stop is about 22 miles west in Lincoln City, Or. near Devil's lake where I hear is some great fishing. It might be time to pull out the pole and give a few casts. I am behind schedule a little, but would not trade the people or the sites for anything. I am at the Spirit Mountain Casino, go figure Ty, thank you Jocelyn and Sally and everyone here. I knew he would let me walk by this place, it's no Foxwoods but the room they donated is great and the food is first class I ate like a king tonight at the buffet. Any more meals like that and I will be bigger than when I started this trip. I hope to make it to San Fransisco by the middle of May, cross your fingers and toes folks. I have been treated like a king so far and I feel a little bad about that but it just goes to show that humanity is not dead. I have from the beginning said this trip was for my friend and it still is. It has also become much more than a one man show, all the stories and people have made this a journey for the ages. Young and old alike, the kids have become a great focus for me. When I am done I want to write or have someone help me write a book about my adventure. A writer, I am not. It would make me feel great to go to a children's hospitals and tell the tale of my adventure just to see some kids smile and say that was cool!!!
I am not weary and my focus is strong I will finish this journey for all of you.

Please continue to Donate the support has been great but we have a long way to go.

PS.

I saw a sign on an abandoned building the other day, funny how many things you see when your walking. It said "Generosity is a principle not an amount" I thought that was a great way to put it. Give with your hearts not your wallets. It all helps and it is going to a great cause. Thanks again everyone and again stay with me!!!!!

A long walk for a departed friend, by Suzanne Bobo at the Kodiak Daily Mirror

In the Jewish tradition, the story is told of two friends separated when their kingdoms waged war on one another. One friend braved the political environment and visited the other friend. The king learned of the foreigner’s presence in his kingdom, and the visitor was arrested, imprisoned and sentenced to death by the sword. Accepting that his pleas for clemency would be refused, the man begged the king for kindness: “At least let me return to my homeland, put my affairs in order and say goodbye to my family. I give you my word I will return in one month.”

“How do I know you will return?” the king asked.

“My friend will be my surety,” the man replied, and the friend agreed that, yes, he would stay in the prison until his friend returned and take the sword himself if the man broke his promise.

The king accepted the offer and the man returned to his homeland. On the last day of the furlough, the man had not returned, however, so preparations were made to execute his friend. As the king drew his sword, the man returned, crying: “Spare him: I have come back as promised.” He put his hand on the sword and pulled it to his own neck.

At that moment, his friend replied. “No, let me die for you, for you have been a true and loyal friend to me.” The king was so deeply moved by the selflessness of the two friends he sheathed his sword and pardoned them both. The three men lived the rest of their days in companionable friendship with one another.

One of my favorite stories about friendship, this parable came to mind this week as I talked with people who have watched a friend suffer from the effects of serious illness or injury. Maybe it was a hunting accident. Maybe it is multiple sclerosis. Cancer, perhaps. We all know how devastating it can be to sit by helplessly as our friend loses vitality. We would put the sword to our own neck, gladly, if only that were an option.

But even a sword may show more mercy than an illness. Some friends receive no pardon, nor even a furlough. Death comes too soon and the friend is gone. We are left to wonder why.

“Why can’t we find a cure? Why do we have watch our friends suffer? Why can’t we find the answers we are looking for? Why?” These are the questions Kodiak resident Chris Lyon asked after the death of his friend Ty Cheverier. A husband and father, Ty battled mesenchymal chondrosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the cartilage, for five years before finally succumbing to the disease in August of 2005 at the age of 34.

Now, Lyon is on a quest to find answers to the question, “Why?” The 37-year-old chef is walking, alone, 3,000 some-odd miles across America to raise funds that will be used to find a cure for the disease that ravaged his friend. Lyon left Kodiak by boat on March 23; he hopes to walk to Connecticut, where he and Ty both grew up, by the end of September. 

When this column prints, Lyon should be strolling into Portland and then on to San Francisco, where he plans to meet with executives from the Sarcoma Alliance. His goal as he strolls is raise money while sharing stories of cancer patients and keeping Ty’s memory alive.

“Ty and I grew up in the same neighborhood,” Lyon told me in an email, “and although in our younger years we rarely hung out, we became great friends over the years to come after high school.  Ty went off to college to play football. He was a strong and fast guy and great at sports in general.” Ty was a father of three boys, Lyon added, “and it was great to see him as a father; the same old Ty just teaching while playing. His fight with cancer was a hard one for him. He rarely let you see him suffer, so strong and determined to win ... A coach of his sons’ baseball teams even while sick.”

Lyon’s adventures so far have been as unforgettable as his friend: he saw Mendenhall Glacier up close, ate halibut tacos in Juneau, posted photos on his blog after arriving by boat in Bellingham, named his blisters in Burlington, celebrated Easter in Seattle, accepted a donation from a homeless man in Mount Vernon, slept at the Plum Duff B&B in Tacoma, where he also was served coffee by a barista wearing a bikini..

Although the donations have been slow to come in, he carries a backpack roughly the size of a Volkswagen, and the trip has been harder than he thought, Lyon wrote on Facebook on April 8, “there is no quit in this kid.” As he travels, he said in the same post, “I think of all you following (my progress) and thank God that humanity isn’t dead. I have to say without your help I would not be able to make this journey.”

As Lyon makes tracks across America, he hopes to inspire others to help him find a cure for cancer. “I wish ... I had my friend back,” he wrote in a post before he left Kodiak. “I wish no one had to suffer. I wish to help in this fight.”

Ty Cheverier’s cousin Ray wrote me in an email, “I think what Chris is attempting is an unbelievable thing. I wish I could do it with him. Just attempting this has blown our family away. You can help Chris Lyon fight the fight: follow him on his blog and/or make a donation at www.alaska2ct.blogspot.com.

#####

Chris Lyon, chef and free-spirit traveler, in a photo taken before his departure from Kodiak March 23 on a walk across America in memory of a friend. (Photo courtesy of Chris Lyon).

Great friends make a difference!!

A lot of friends are just that, but there are friends that are what some would call heaven sent.  I have a lot of friends and I know a lot of people and for that I am grateful.  Some are close friends, some are life friends, and still there are friends you have that surprise you everyday.   I grew up in a small neighborhood with some of the best friends you could ask for.  To this day, and I an 37, I still talk to and  know where most if not all of those friends are.  A few are part of my everyday life and some I talk to on occasion.  Some have gone on to be very successful  in there careers and some have gone on to raise  families.  Without my friends this world would be a lonely place.

Juneau, Alaska

I have spent time in a lot of places in my life but none as beautiful as Juneau.  The friendly people and the views are incredible.  I walked through the center of town and it was like a blast from the past, with old buildings and saloons.  I had a great meal at the Hanger on the Wharf, a scenic yet slightly sophisticated restaurant and bar.  Jed Gemmel the GM was very informative and bought me a great meal while being very interested in my journey.  The bartender/ hostess/ waitress, Tess was great and add to the atmosphere of the place.  A halibut taco and homemade tortillas with all the fixing was what they are famous for.  Great job and the food was outstanding.  If your ever in Juneau that's a great place to stop and have a bite and a pint.  Well I leave here tomorrow and am back on the boat for the next leg of this journey and can't wait to start walking in Bellingham. The Mendenhall Glacier was amazing got some pics.  See you all in Bellingham in a few days.

Christopher Lyon March 26 at 6:52pm

Hey everyone if you didn't know i am almost a week into this journey. I am in Juneau AK the capital. It is going great and I am meeting some great people. The Pearson pond bed and breakfast donated 4 days at this beautiful place. The people at viking travel donated a large portion of my boat ticket. I meet some nice people on the boat that bought me dinner. The support has been great. But I need to ask for your help. I am self funding this trip and i am working on making my way across the country on good peoples deeds but if you all could help that would make this journey a success. If you could afford a small donation of 5.00 that's all you could make a difference. Thanks everyone and stay with me.

PS. if you throw 5.00 in an envelope and send it to The Ty Cheverier Open c\o Steven VanGasbeck  237 Dudley town road Windsor ct 06095 The beginning

The New Haven Advocate article By Rebecca Lucente

WINDSOR — Chris Lyon is having an ordinary Saturday in Kodiak, Alaska. He’s at home, drinking coffee and checking Facebook. He’s reading stories about his “best and most loyal friend,” Ty Cheverier. Ty, a husband and father, passed away in 2005 after combatting Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma for five years, a rare and rapidly spreading cancer of the cartilage. On March 23, Lyon, a 37-year-old chef, plans to set off alone across the country to raise awareness and research money in memory of his friend. And he’s doing it all on foot.

“I had a dream in which I already did it,” Lyon says. “I walked all the way from Alaska to Connecticut in memory of Ty, and all these people got involved. It was pretty vivid. Now it’s in full swing.”

Lyon will post video and journal entries on his blog, Alaska to Connecticut, A Walk For A Friend (alaska2ct.blogspot.com). The itinerary is as follows: 2 p.m. March 23, climb on a boat from the docks of Kodiak Island; four days later arrive in Bellingham, Wash.; San Francisco: meet with representatives for the American Alliance for Sarcoma Cancer; Nevada: no particular reason; Missouri: his place of birth, the Carolinas: last place he lived; Connecticut: home.

Lyon hopes to be back by Sept. 18 to participate in a charity golf tournament founded in Ty’s name. “Only an adventure of this size could really do justice to such a wonderful guy!” posts Hannah Bridgeman Oxley on the A Walk For A Friend, Journey Across America group on Facebook that Lyon started March 1. As of this writing, it has 464 members.

Proceeds of a book would go to the Ty Cheverier Open Fund, as will all other donations gained along the way, all going in an as-yet-undetermined way to Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma research.

Donations can be made to the Ty Cheverier Open Fund, c/o Steven VanGasbeck, 237 Dudley Town Road, Windsor, CT, 06095. You can learn more about Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma at sarcomahelp.org. —Rebecca Lucente

More giving People

I would like to extend my gratitude to the people down at Mack's Sport Shop & Alaskan Gifts in Kodiak, Alaska. This place is great, and they are very much into great causes and help whenever they can.  With there donation to my journey, I will be warm and safe from the elements in the tent and sleeping bag they donated.  Many thanks to you and continue to do what you do, you guys are the best.  They were right there with service and advice and they are definitely  the ones you should all go to if your in Kodiak, or shop on line.                                               Thanks again Roberto!                           www.mackssportshop.com

A reason to fight

I want to explain myself a little.  It has been brought to my attention that some of you are wondering just how the whole walk thing happened.  Well to be honest, it was a dream, no seriously.  It was the kind of dream that you can feel and taste and if not for waking up in beautiful Alaska, I would have thought it was a memory and not a dream.  Faces of people I haven't met, foods I haven't tasted.  I have had dreams in the past, everyone has.  But this was something different, a calling, maybe, not sure I believe that yet.  I have not been able to get the visions out of my head and have come to enjoy them.  They keep me focused and determined. A quote comes to mind, ok,  I fished it off a new friend of mines web page, but I think it applies and I like it "Only those who are willing to risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go" T.S. Elliot. Thank you Miss Lepak.   My cause is a great one and my friend was just that, a friend, and that is what friends do, right?  I will not quit until this journey is done.  Ty, my friend, was a friend to all of you and if you didn't know him you should have, you missed out on a great guy.  Why I ask myself.  You know how when we are young we ask why, if you have children or nieces or nephews, you know exactly what I mean.  I had a 45 minute discussion with my daughter once and "why" was the question that kept it going. That is our favorite question, well, now that I am older, why, seems to be my question of choice again.  WHY can't we find a cure? WHY do we have to watch our friends suffer? WHY can't we find the answers we are looking for?  WHY?  It's 11:11 pm here in Alaska, that's the time of day when you make a wish . So here goes nothing . My wish is to find some answers and  I wish to help in this fight.  I wish that no one had to suffer.  I wish that among other thing I had my friend back.  Goodnite everyone and sweet dreams, literally!! You never know.
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