KINSHIP FUNDRAISER GARY WALTERS IS 100 POUNDS LIGHTER

Brainerd insurance executive Gary Walters lost 100 pounds this year and has completed his Kinship Partners fundraising challenge. The once-portly 290 pound Walters now packs 190 pounds on his 5'8" frame, but it was close at the end. He spent Thursday at FitQuest in Baxter losing the last 5 pounds. Walters exercised in aerobics classes, on the treadmill and in the steam room, drinking as little water as possible. He told the Brainerd Dispatch it was not the preferred way to lose weight but he wanted to make his goal. Walters had until midnight but climbed on the scale at 4:30p and found he was just a shade over his 190 pound goal. So he checked the scale, then told everyone to leave the room so he could take off his shoes, his socks, his tee shirt, and his, uh, sweaty shorts, and he had made his weight. Walters wouldn't say what next year's fundraising stunt would be. In past years, he's biked from New Orleans to Minnesota, walked across the state the long way, swam across Mille Lacs Lake, and spent two weeks near the top of Brainerd's old water tower. Next year's stunt, Walters said, would be something cool, but he wouldn't give details.