Lindy’s Hideaway to host fourth annual Alzheimer’s fundraiser

The annual Alzheimer’s Association fundraiser at Lindy’s Hideaway and Swamp Witch Inn in Three Lakes all began with a little “bar talk.”

“It really started because Jamie Conway [owner of Conway Ace Hardware in Crandon] and I were talking, and he just wanted to have a party,” recalled Sherry Martinovich, Lindy’s Hideaway co-owner and chief organizer of the fundraiser. “He stopped in with a friend and said, ‘We’d love to bring our smoker out here and cook some meat.’”

“I told him, ‘Okay, if we’re going to do this, we need to raise money for a cause. Let’s pick something.’ And we picked Alzheimer’s, which had affected Jamie’s family.”

Three weeks later, after lining up a band and asking family and neighbors to gather prizes, the first event came together — raising nearly $5,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Now, as Lindy’s Hideaway prepares to host its fourth annual fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 20, the cause feels more personal than ever for Martinovich, who lost her stepmother to the disease in July.

“This year’s just really a big year with losing my stepmom,” she said.

Martinovich also spent 20 years working in a nursing home, most of it caring for Alzheimer’s patients. “I can’t think of anybody anymore that isn’t affected by it,” she said.

The cause

That’s not just in her head. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, out of about 9,800 people in Oneida County who are 65 or older, 1,000 are estimated to have Alzheimer’s disease. In Vilas County, out of 7,000 people 65-plus, 700 are living with the disease.

Proceeds from the fundraiser stay local for support groups, public education, referral services, and personalized care consultations, with programs that emphasize helping caregivers.

“Alzheimer’s can leave caregivers feeling very isolated and alone,” said Julie St. Pierre, community outreach coordinator for the Alzheimer’s Association Wisconsin Chapter.

“Support groups are a critical resource, as they provide caregivers with an opportunity to connect with others who are going through similar experiences,” she added. “The groups are a safe place to vent, cry, and maybe even share a few laughs.”

Martinovich sees the impact firsthand. Her neighbor has been caring for her husband with Alzheimer’s for the past seven years. “That, to me, is the biggest part — to have the resources for somebody who’s at home taking care of someone to have somebody to talk to,” she said.

The party

In that spirit of connection, the fundraiser is scheduled to coincide with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s at the Hodag Dome in Rhinelander, giving walkers and community members a chance to keep the goodwill flowing.

Set from noon to 6 p.m., the entry fee is $30. The event features live music by Jimi Anderson and Pentatonic Uncertainty, homecooked food, raffles, a 50/50 raffle, silent auctions, and prize drawings.

“We’ll have pulled pork, Cuban sandwiches, cowboy beans, macaroni and cheese, smoked bacon-wrapped pickles, coleslaw, and cornbread,” Martinovich said. “We do a giant meal.”

Conway donates and smokes the meat, while Martinovich handles the rest of the cooking, starting at 8 a.m. the day of the event. She even bought a cotton candy machine to make purple cotton candy, the color for Alzheimer’s awareness.

Every half hour, a raffle prize is drawn. Big-ticket items include an electric bike, an electric chainsaw (donated by Conway), and a 90-quart cooler packed with booze. “We’re in northern Wisconsin,” said Martinovich with a laugh. “People like to drink.”

Silent auction items include pontoon and snowmobile rentals and several large baskets, and the board of gift certificates grew so big it had to be split into two.

Many donors and volunteers are part of Lindy’s Hideaway’s customer base. “We’re friends and family,” Martinovich said. “We’re all pretty close here, and they all wanted to be helpful.”

In fact, while she was being interviewed for this article, John from Badger Liquor dropped off a patio umbrella for the event. One neighbor even makes a quilt with leftover Crown Royal bags (purple, of course) to raffle off.

Always evolving

“Who would’ve thought we’d go from ‘I want to do a barbecue in the backyard’ to this?’” Martinovich said.

She and her husband, Mike, have come a long way since that first gathering.

“Now we actually have meetings with people,” she said. “We try to figure out what we’ll do for the next year, and we get our totals together. Then we have a meeting in the spring to start new ideas.”

Proceeds have grown each year: $5,000 the first, $9,000 the second, and $11,000 the third. This year, Martinovich is aiming for $15,000.

But as St. Pierre noted, the fundraiser isn’t just about the money. “The awareness raised through events like this is every bit as important as the funds,” she said. “We can raise all the money in the world, but if people don’t know about us and what we do, we can’t help them.”

Ultimately, Martinovich just hopes one day there’s a cure. “But we’re doing what we can in the meantime,” she said. “Who doesn’t like a good party?”

“Oh, and the smoked chicken legs — we forgot about them,” she added with a grin. “Some people come just for the smoked chicken legs.”

So come for the smoked meat, stay for the cause. Lindy’s Hideaway and Swamp Witch Inn is at 290 Wesley Road, Three Lakes. For more information, call 715-479-4140.