VBT resident James Wigginton climbs stairs in 44th state

James Wiggington of Van Buren Township, a 75-year-old Marine, continues his step-climbing, with a goal of climbing the tallest buildings in each of the 50 states.
He is earning funds for thyroid cancer research, in memory of his late wife, and for Folds of Honor scholarships.
On Nov. 25 he climbed the building with the most stairs in Idaho, which is state 44 on his list.
He said he had permission for the current tallest building in Boise, Eighth and Main Building with 18 stories, and then the one that will be the newest tallest, at 26 stories, which is under construction.
“I had permission for the first one and went in with the workers in the second one,” Wiggington said.
He said the second one, the Arthur, isn’t finished yet and doesn’t have a certificate of occupancy.
He said the big news is that ConocoPhillips in Alaska called to say he not only had permission to climb their tallest building in Alaska, but they want to do a big TV and media blitz about it.
He said his goal is to finish four other climbs in the next three months, so Alaska will be number 49, in honor of their statehood.
His challenges before then are New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, and Hawaii before the end of February.
New York will be number 50, as it is planned to be an official race in June.
Wigginton continues these climbs to bring awareness and funding to Folds of Honor, a veterans’ organization that has provided more than 57,000 scholarships for families of fallen or disabled military and first-responders in the last 17 years.
And, to support the Punya Thyroid Cancer Fund which has supported doctors at the University of Michigan in research and treatment improvements that have increased the quality and length of life of stage-4 thyroid cancer patients by almost five times.