Local celebrity Lewisburg street performer Cholly Erb presented Mayor John Manchester with a 2018 calendar he created as his way of generating awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Called the Stud Muffin Cheesecake Calendar, each month depicts images and sometimes a brief quote from fellow ALS survivors that Erb has met through the Gleason Initiative Foundation’s online forum.

Erb said his objective in creating the calendar is to celebrate the lives of those with ALS and to show how they are empowered to live a rewarding life. Erb, who spent his life as a clown and a street performer – stilt-walking and dancing, and as an avid outdoorsman – hunting, biking, kayaking, farming and white water rafting, was diagnosed with the disease in June of 2014.

The Gleason Initiative Foundation is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, whose mission is to help individuals with neuromuscular diseases or injuries with leading edge technology, equipment and services; create a global conversation about ALS; and raising public awareness by providing and documenting extraordinary life adventures for individuals with ALS.

Basically, Erb said, “They help those of us with this disease realize our dreams.” Erb made a trip some months back to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming with his brother with financial aid from the foundation, he said.

To order a Stud Muffin Cheesecake Calendar, contact Greenbrier Printing at 794 Court Street South, Lewisburg, WV 24901, or call 304-645-3030, or go to greenbrierprinting@suddenlinkmail.com. The calendars are $10, which pays for the print costs and are not meant to generate a profit.

For those interested in making a donation, Erb asks that checks be made payable to The Gleason Initiative Foundation, P.O. Box 24493, New Orleans, LA 70184. He urges all donors make a memo on the check to refer to the SM/CC calendar. More information can be found about ALS at www.TeamGleason.org.