Butler County auditor and staff take the ice bucket challenge for ALS

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds and 19 of his staffers stood in the pouring rain under the overhang of the Elder-Beerman building Thursday and in a continuous wave, dumped buckets of ice water over their heads, collectively taking the ALS challenge.

Starting with Reynolds, they each said their name and shouted, “taking the challenge,” then in reverse order took their ice water filled, coolers, buckets and other receptacles and dumped. Everyone got a full bath except for Deputy Auditor David Brown, who was just trying to get his bald head wet, until Reynolds completed the full dousing.

“I was afraid the ice was going to cut my head open,” he said. “It got me a little nervous. I was trying to be a little gentle with the pour, but my friends helped me out there.”

After the dousing was complete, Reynolds nominated Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy, who used to be on the Butler County Common Pleas Court, and State Auditor Dave Yost to take the ice bucket challenge. Reynolds vowed to pay $10 per employee who took the challenge after his Real Estate Director Julie Joyce-Smith nominated him.

“When we got challenged, we were as usual up for the challenge,” Reynolds said. “The office, year-after-year, we always look for different ways to help the local community. This is just one of those areas where if we can help out by being involved and simply pour a bucket of water over our head for awareness for ALS, we’re willing to do it.”

Joyce-Smith lost a relative to the debilitating disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, attacks the cells in the brain and spinal cord. The ice bucket challenge is sweeping the country and has raised $41.8 million for research into a cure for the deadly disease.

Joyce-Smith said she had an ulterior motive for challenging her boss.

“Number one I wanted to see him all wet,” she said. “And two, I knew if he led by example, he would get a large number of people to follow. Our office has a tendency to be very philanthropic.”

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