ANN ARBOR—Nearly a year after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Bob Schoeni is delighted that he’ll be dancing with his wife, Gretchen Spreitzer, at a May 8 square dance at the Washtenaw County Farm Council Grounds. The family-friendly dance, which starts at 6:30 p.m., is the latest in a series of town-gown activities designed to help raise money for research on Lou Gehrig’s Disease, also known as ALS?Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

A progressive, neuromuscular disease that attacks the cells that control our muscles, it affects the ability to move, speak, swallow and breathe. Through it all, the mind remains fully aware. It’s a condition that has no cure and as yet, no effective treatments. Many patients are in wheelchairs within a few years of diagnosis, and most die within five years.

An internationally recognized U-M economist with appointments in ISR, LS&A, and the Ford School of Public Policy, Schoeni, 45, is known as “Coach Bob” to the girls enrolled with his daughters Maddie and Sophie in field hockey, soccer and other Ann Arbor Rec & Ed sports programs. He and Spreitzer, a professor at U-M’s Ross School of Business, are also involved in their church, their Burns Park neighborhood, and their daughters’ schools. So it’s only natural that the community—within the university and without—is rallying to their support.

The coming square dance fundraiser is being co-sponsored by a group that just won official nonprofit status?Ann Arbor Active Against ALS (http://www.A2A3.org). Started by Schoeni family friends and admirers, the group’s board includes current and former U-M students and faculty members, as well as community leaders.

“Because coaching sports means so much to Bob and because ALS takes away activity and muscles, A2A3 aims to help fight the disease by doing the opposite of what ALS does: encouraging people to be active and strong,” said ISR colleague and A2A3 board member Kate McGonagle.

Schoeni first noticed symptoms of ALS last spring while on a sabbatical in Australia with his family. A blog the family started to keep family and friends posted on their adventures down under—http://bschoeni.blogspot.com/—has become a means to keep people posted on how the family is doing.

In the Sept. 30 entry, Schoeni wrote: “Moving ahead, Gretchen and I think we have two options: 1) Be mad and angry, and let the disease win by stealing our spirit and soul; or 2) Refuse to let our mind and spirit be destroyed by this disease, and live every second to its fullest.

“Life is a gift. We each choose what to do with our gift. Our family has moments when we struggle, and we probably have many very difficult challenges ahead. But we are going to do our best to choose option 2.”