Rotarians Stroll Zoo for Alzheimer’s Assn.

Members of 25 Rotary Clubs in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys will make up a sizable portion of the thousands expected to prowl around the L.A. Zoo and Griffith Park in Saturday’s Alzheimer’s Memory Walk.

The 200 commitments and donations received so far from Rotarians is exceptional in the event’s five-year history, said Christina Martinez of the Alzheimer’s Assn.

The event, which begins at 8 a.m., will include a three-mile walk and five-kilometer run. The zoo will be closed to the public during the walk.

“It’s something that everybody can do,” said association volunteer and walk organizer Walt Walston. “It’s easy for all ages. Because Alzheimer’s affects older people, it’s more apt to have a walk.”

Donations are flat, not set according to how much participants walk or run, Walston said.

The attraction of seeing animals usually encourages people to take part, he added. And zoo dwellers are often just as curious.

“They all wave,” Walston joked. “We get ‘em at a good time because they’ve just fed them and they’re somewhat alert.”

Some celebrities, including actor David Hyde Pierce of NBC-TV’s “Frasier,” are expected to attend.

Registration is $15 and a barbecue lunch costs $6.

For more information, call the Alzheimer’s Assn. at (213) 938-3379 or Jane DuRivage of the Glendale Sunrise Rotary Club at (818) 240-5507.