‘Little angel voice’ to kick off 28th annual Turkey Trot

When it was rumored that a child was wanted to sing the national anthem at the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot, nurse Pat Morris knew just the person.

Morris, a nurse at the University of Virginia Health System’s Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center, thought of 16-year-old Janie Walters, who is from Floyd and has cerebral palsy and is legally blind. Morris had first heard Walters sing — in what she describes as a “little angel voice” coming from the waiting room — during her regular visits to UVa’s Children’s Hospital.

“I had a feeling they would be happy to do it,” Morris said of the Walters family.

Janie Walters and her family will be among hundreds attending today’s 28th annual Boar’s Head Turkey Trot, the proceeds of which will go toward UVa’s Children’s Hospital. The 5-kilometer trot begins at the Boar’s Head Inn in Ivy and proceeds through Ednam Forest. It begins at 9 a.m. and is expected to draw about 1,300 participants.

Registration for the race is closed but donations can still be made to the event.

Walters has been a patient at the children’s hospital for five years and comes to Charlottesville every six months for check-ups. Her brother, 14-year-old Chris, has also been treated at the hospital for spina bifida.

“Every time we go up there, Janie sings right there in the lobby for anyone who wants to listen,” said Joyce Walters, Janie’s mother.

Though they have been frequent visitors to Charlottesville, Joyce Walters said that this is the family’s first Turkey Trot.

“She’ll be glad to sing for anybody,” she said of her daughter. “She’s just that way.”

Amy Wicks-Horn, director of annual giving for the children’s hospital, said the Turkey Trot raised $27,000 last year.

The goal this year is to raise $40,000, she said.

“We’re really excited,” Wicks-Horn said.

The proceeds from today’s race will be used specifically to help fund the Barry and Bill Battle Building, a planned facility that will consolidate outpatient and rehabilitative care for children.

Barry Battle said that another $15 million is needed for the building to have its groundbreaking next year. More than $23 million has been raised so far.

“It’s remarkable how generous people in Charlottesville are when it comes to children,” she said.

Because she is heading out of town to have Thanksgiving at her daughter’s house, Battle said she would, unfortunately, be missing this year’s event.

“It’s gotten to be very popular over the years,” Battle said.