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A close bond with an aunt and uncle who owned a flower shop set Amy Elder Gammel on a path to nearly 20 years as a volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association.
Gammel still works in Mayo’s Flower Shop in Halls in Lauderdale County. She grew up in the shop, which was run by her uncle, Billy Elder, and her aunt, Myrtle Elder Jackson (whom she calls “Myrt”), who were each other’s siblings.
Billy Elder bought the flower shop in November 1969. At age 85, he still comes in every day.
Gammel would come to the store after school and often stayed with the Jacksons in the shop during the summer. They set her up with a bed and a child’s desk to help her occupy her time when she was little.
As she grew up, she would help around the store until she attended the University of Tennessee at Martin, where she graduated in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and in 2003 with a master’s degree in education. She married Matthew Gammel—a 2013 UT Martin graduate in criminal justice—on Sept. 19, 2015.
Gammel was very close to her aunt and uncle, so much so that she has embarked on a mission on behalf of Jackson. Gammel is a volunteer worker for the Alzheimer’s Association.
“My aunt had no children, so I was like her child, and she helped raise me,” Gammel said. “She (Jackson) was diagnosed on May 9, 2005, and at that time, there was not a whole lot of hope for any type of treatment, much less a cure.
“I started trying to research everything I could find to learn about the disease, what medicines might or might not be effective and how to better cope with it because it was completely foreign to me at that time.”
Since Jackson was diagnosed, Gammel has been working with the Alzheimer’s Association at some level and has been working at higher levels for the last 15 years.
“She and I both had birthdays in September,” Gammel said. “So, I said, ‘Let’s just have our party, and let’s go do the Alzheimer’s walk.”
“We went to a walk in Memphis, and opportunities just started presenting themselves for me to volunteer and get more involved. Through that, I became more involved.”
Jackson died on Gammel’s wedding night from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease.
“We lost her at 10 o’clock that night,” Gammel said. “We got married at 2. We did the traditional pictures with our cakes, and I came home because she had been on hospice. Matthew and I had friends from college who traveled to be part of our wedding, and they stayed to spend time with us that night.
“Matthew went and thanked everyone for coming to our wedding, then headed to Myrt’s. He and Brandon (family friend) were able to get my Uncle Billy back to the house right before we lost her. I knew that my Uncle Billy needed to be there.”
Gammel serves as the Alzheimer’s Association ambassador for District 8. Part of her duties are to travel with other Alzheimer’s Association ambassadors when they are scheduled to speak to legislators in Nashville and Washington, D.C., to advocate for the organization.
“We speak with elected officials about Alzheimer’s legislation and what’s going on with funding,” she said. Gammel is also the vice chair on the board of directors for the Tennessee Alzheimer’s Association.
Gammel attends several Alzheimer’s Association Walks across West Tennessee as well as community forums and has been a guest speaker at area civic clubs like the Rotary Club.
She also created an Alzheimer’s Association event for Halls and Lauderdale County, held each August.
“I felt like there was a need for people in my county,” she said. “A lot of people couldn’t get to Memphis or Jackson, so that was one of the reasons I created my own event at home.
“We call it Walk the Block Party for Alzheimer’s, and it’s an Alzheimer’s walk. We have local live music during the day. We had 53 vendors this year, a car show, some inflatables and a petting zoo. The high schools and junior high participate with their cheerleading squads, and the student councils always provide us with volunteers.”
Another Walk the Block Party for Alzheimer’s event is scheduled for Aug. 9, 2025.
“We raised well over $21,000 this year in a town of 2,000 people, and when you look at larger walks, we are right there with per-capita raised,” she said. “This year was, technically, our fourth Walk the Block Party. We started out with just a walk. I felt like I needed to get people to talk about what I was doing and coming to me and asking why we were walking.
“We couldn’t do what we do without the help of the community. Without their buy-in, this wouldn’t be happening, and I am grateful for their help and contribution.”
Gammel said she tries to provide ways for the area’s youth to take part and enjoy themselves.
“Myrt instilled in me how important children are and what they offer us,” Gammel said. “My nephew Willie (Harrison) and I have that same bond. He wanted to do a Lego contest this year.
“It was a lot of fun, with a good response from our community. It was a ton of fun, and we plan to keep building out with hopes of having a junior board very soon.”
Gammel still works at Mayo’s Flower Shop on the corner of Main and Church streets in Halls. She said she enjoys being able to get out from time to time to take care of Alzheimer’s Association duties.
“I like the freedom that I have to be able do the Alzheimer’s things that I do,” she said. “If I had a 9-to-5, I wouldn’t be able to go to a lot of the meetings and things that I do.
“I grew up there; it’s all that I know.”
Carrying on her aunt’s legacy is very important to Gammel.
“I feel like the people who knew my aunt would say my aunt could command a room once she walked in,” she said. “Everywhere she went, she never was shy; she was very comfortable being herself. She was good to everybody; she helped everybody she could and didn’t look for thanks for doing it.
“When I was going to school in Martin, she and my uncle Billy would come every Tuesday night and take me out to eat and take me to Walmart to get whatever I needed for the week—every Tuesday night without fail the whole time I was there. I know that wasn’t easy for her—working a full time job and having a home. Looking back, I gave her my word that her fight would be my fight, and I intend to keep it.”
Flower shops are businesses where you can see things grow, and if Gammel has her way, hope for a treatment and cure for Alzheimer’s disease can grow there as well.
