Janet Oberholtzer

Featured Speaker at Pasta Dinner - 7:00 p.m.

Janet Oberholtzer is a writer and speaker from nearby Mohnton, PA who had to learn to live again after a family vacation in 2004 turned into a nightmare when a horrific vehicle accident decimated her legs, shattered her pelvis and almost took her life. After Janet stabilized, her doctors weren't sure if she would ever walk again, but the endurance she learned as a runner the previous decade helped her recovery better than anticipated. But adjusting to living with pain, limitations and a deformed leg proved to be almost more than Janet could handle and she struggled with depression for a few years.

Janet will join us at the Pasta Dinner at 7PM to share how she recovered both physically and emotionally one step at a time by learning to live in the moment and by doing what she can, with what she has, where she is. Her recovery not only included walking, but also running, which doctors had told her was definitely a thing of her past. For her first race post-accident, she ran one leg of a 2008 Garden Spot Village Marathon Relay Team. And she did four half-marathons since then.. because she can!

Janet's story will give you hope ... whether you have physical limitations or you need hope due to difficult circumstances, unwanted changes or the monotony of life. She released a memoir about her recovery, Because I Can: Doing What I Can, With What I Have, Where I Am in September, 2011 and it will be available for $15.