First Lady Conte coming to town

AndreaWalks heads for East Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte, Governor Bredesen’s wife, is a strong advocate for children’s rights issues and made fundraising for Tennessee’s Child Advocacy Centers her first priority when she became First Lady in 2003. Conte is walking 600 miles across the state to raise awareness about child abuse and to raise funds for 27 nonprofit organizations that provide support to child victims of abuse. Conte began her walk on September 8, 2004 and has logged more than 300 miles visiting 15 child advocacy centers and raising more than $700,000. She has marched through 19 cities in West and Middle Tennessee and will be initiated her trek through East Tennessee on Tuesday, February 22, 2005. Conte will have numerous cities on her agenda to travel through, including Maryville and Knoxville. She is scheduled to be walking through these cities March 17-18.