Ronald McDonald leads the ribbon-cutting at Saturday's walkathon benefiting PARC - Family-Centered Services for People with Developmental Disabilities. To view more photos, click on photo gallery tab above and select the Plainville PARC walkathon 2009 or look in the Oct. 1 issue of The Plainville Citizen.

Kei-Kei Barksdale, center, walks with her daughters Raja, left, and Nikayla, right, at the 2008 PARC walkathon. The 2009 walk will be held Saturday, Sept. 26, 9:30 a.m., to benefit PARC — Family-Centered Services for People with Developmental Disabilities. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the walk will be at 10 a.m. The annual event is dedicated to Helen Coughlin and sponsored by Manafort Brothers. The event will include the U.S. Marine and Navy Color Guard, Mrs. Plainville Meghan Mitchell and Ronald McDonald. Rain date is Saturday, Oct. 10. For more information, visit the Web site at www.plainvillearc.org or call (860) 747-0316.

Jay Steeves, left, vice president of the Plainville Rotary Club, presents a $1,000 check to Diane Kraut, president of the board of directors of PARC - Family-Centered Services for People with Developmental Disabilities, with Kati Ciaffaglione, job coordinator.

Catryna Gola, of Plainville, gets to know a guinea pig during a visit to the Hungerford Nature Center in Kensington. The field trip was sponsored by PARC - Family-Centered Services for People with Developmental Disabilities.

About 100 people - friends, familes and supporters of the Plainville Association for Retarded Citizens - stride around Norton Park today, Oct. 11, during the organization's top fundraiser. Town officials, state Rep. Betty Boukas and Heidi Coughlin, daughter of PARC founder Helen Coughlin, began the event with comments and thanks to the participants. See the photo gallery on this Web site for more photos: Plainville PARC walkathon 2008.