Local team to join Walk to Defeat ALS They’ll be ‘Batting for Brent’ Weber

Family and friends of Brent Weber are making a pitch for the Walk to Defeat ALS Mankato on Saturday, April 29.

More than just a few-mile trek, the Walk to Defeat ALS is an opportunity to bring hope to people living with ALS, to raise money for a cure, and to come together for something they care about. The Walk to Defeat ALS is The ALS Association’s biggest annual event, which raises funds that allow local chapters to sustain care services and support research for much of the next year.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and motor neuron disease, is a specific disease that causes the death of neurons which control voluntary muscles. The cause is not known in 90% to 95% of cases. The diagnosis is based on a person’s signs and symptoms with testing done to rule out other potential causes. No cure for ALS is known.

“Batting for Brent” is the name chosen by the team that will honor Weber in the Mankato ALS Walk.  It is their hope to help “Strike out ALS.” Brent loves all sports, but baseball is his favorite. He played baseball during his school days. Brent played baseball in the minor league with the Atlanta Braves in Idaho Falls, Idaho, during the summer of 1991.   He played baseball with the Springfield Tigers town team for six years, and then three years in Dell Rapids, S.D.   He coached youth baseball in Sartell for eight years and was president of the Sartell baseball organization for six years.   He also coached youth football and basketball. 

Brent, son of Larry and Marg Weber of Sanborn, graduated from Sanborn High School in 1987, and St. John’s University in 1991.  Brent and his wife, the former Kelly Weedman of Springfield, are residing in Sartell with their four children, Blake, 19, Abby, 16, Morgan, 12, and Mallory, 11.

In 1993, Brent began work with the C.H. Robinson Company, a Fortune 500 provider of transportation services — freight transportation, transportation management, brokerage and warehousing, in Sioux Falls, S.D.   In 1998, the Webers moved to Spokane, Wash., where Brent managed an office for C.H. Robinson.  In 2005, they returned to Minnesota and moved to Sartell, about eight miles from St. Cloud, where Brent managed the C.H. Robinson office. He continued to work until December 2016. 

Slurred speech and a weakness in his left leg were the first symptoms of Brent’s illness about a year ago.  After months of tests, Brent was diagnosed with ALS in September 2016.

Anyone who would like to participate in the Mankato Walk for ALS is welcome. The walk will take place in Sibley Park. Check-in starts at 8:30 a.m. and the walk — 2.5 miles — starts at 10 a.m.   Contributions to the ALS Association may be made online at: webmn.alsa.org/goto/batting for brent and then click on Join Team if you want to Walk, or click Donate to next to any team member’s name to contribute to the cause.  You may also contribute by check made payable to The ALS Association and note “Batting for Brent” on the check, then send the check to the ALS Association, MN/ND/SD Chapter, 333 N Washington Ave. Suite 105, Minneapolis, MN 55401; or drop check with local family members, Judy Lipetzky, Doris Weber, Kim Shoen or Judy Weedman.    

Those who wish to send a caring card to Brent can send it to 712 Starlight Drive, Sartell, MN 56377.     

Donations drive the crucial programs and services the ALS Association provides to people living with ALS and their families every day.  From medical equipment, such as eye-gaze technology and wheelchairs, your gift assists someone with ALS by increasing their communication, mobility, and ultimately their independency. Additionally, efforts to advance research of ALS that help in the development of new treatments and take us one step closer to finding a cure for the disease are possible because of your contribution.

The family is also forming a team and participating in the St. Cloud ALS Walk on August 26.