NEWS RELEASE, March 1, 2005
"Cookie Lady" Hospitalized
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JUNE CURRY HOSPITALIZED AFTER STROKE
June Curry, the famous “Cookie Lady” from Afton, Virginia, had a stroke on February 20, but is making very good progress. She has gone from
being paralyzed on the left side to getting full use of her left arm and some use of her left leg. She is able to walk with help and a walker.
“June has been doing well in physical therapy,” according to her friend, Joyce Cooke. “Last week, June was supposed to ride ten miles on the
stationary bike but rode fifteen instead. Her doctors expect her to be in the therapy unit of Augusta Medical Center in Fishersville until at
least March 11. She wants so badly to get back home to her beloved Afton home and again greet bikers in the spring.”
Curry, 82, is well known among cyclists riding Adventure Cycling's TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, which runs through her hometown. Affectionately
known as the "Cookie Lady," Curry has supplied more than 11,000 touring cyclists with refreshments and accommodations over the course of nearly
three decades.
In 2003, Adventure Cycling Association honored the “Cookie Lady” with the inaugural June Curry Trail Angel Award, an annual award that recognizes
the contributions made by individuals and organizations who promote bicycle touring and improve conditions for cyclotourists. “When I presented the
inaugural June Curry Trail Angel Award to the famous and beloved "Cookie Lady" near her home in Virginia,” says Larry Diskin, Adventure Cycling’s
Outreach and Education Coordinator, “the crowd of nearly 100 bicyclists from around the nation erupted into a standing ovation that came from deep
within their hearts and could not have been louder. Every person jumped out of their chair and began cheering for June the second I finished my
speech. I will never forget that. It would be difficult for any person to ever match June's level of care for strangers."
The Cookie Lady story began in 1976, when Curry baked cookies throughout the summer for Bikecentennial riders as they passed her home in Afton, Va.
That year she was featured on Charles Kurault's "On the Road" TV show. Having grown fond of the touring cyclists passing through her town, she
converted part of her house into the Bike House. Cyclists are welcome to stop by any time, spend the night, take a shower, and even make themselves
a meal with the supplies Curry stocks in the kitchen. For many years, Curry offered her refreshments and accommodations free of charge; over the years,
small donations from the passing cyclists have helped to keep the hostel operating.
"She's an interesting lady," commented cyclist Dan Phillips of Memphis, Tenn. "It's so obvious that she enjoys meeting the people coming through,
the way she gets pictures of everybody and every group." Those pictures, along with countless letters and postcards from cyclists, are displayed
in Curry's "Bike House," the hostel she offers to visiting cyclists and a veritable shrine to long-distance cycling.
The Milepost Zero Bicycle Club in Waynesboro, Va., provides assistance to Curry. The club supports her with financial aid, food donations for the
Bike House, small home repair jobs, and the annual opening and closing of the Bike House. To see the Bike House and read more about the club and
its involvement with the Cookie Lady, visit click here.
June could use cards and letters to cheer her on and support her progress. You can send them to June Curry, in care of Joyce Cooke,
at 2525 Cortland Street, Waynesboro, VA 22980.
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