50’s and 60’s theme of this year’s Walk for a Cause

Event to take place Sept. 15 at Barrington curling club, starting at 1 p.m.

They’ll be rockin’ around the clock at this year’s Rosalin Nickerson CARE Fund Walk for a Cause fundraiser on Sept. 15 at the Barrington Regional Curling Club with a 1950/60s-era theme for the event as a tribute to Robin and Rosalin Nickerson by their daughter, Shelley d’Eon, founder of the Rosalin Nickerson CARE Fund Society.

The 1950s and 1960s was the era that “my parents were in the prime of their lives,” said d’Eon in an interview. A vintage Bel Air, owned by Wayne Newell, will be on site, the band Hourglass will be rocking out the tunes and there promises to be more than one poodle skirt and pair of saddle shoes on the dance floor.

“I think this year is going to be a fun one,” said d’Eon. “I think people are going to get up moving and dancing …I want to bring a good tribute to my parents. That’s what they grew up with, so if I don’t pull off the most fun walk of all, I didn’t do my job.”

This year marks the 12th year the Walk for a Cause has been held in support of the Rosalin Nickerson CARE Fund. The event is not only the annual culmination of fundraising efforts for the fund, it is also a celebration of cancer survivors and a memorial tribute to those who lost the battle. From the rose-laying ceremony to the survivors’ walk, “Every one of those events brings awareness to the survivor and remembers the person who had battled the disease and brings hope to those who have just been diagnosed,” said d’Eon. “That’s why we do what we do.”

Over the years anywhere from approximately $35,000 to $80,000 has been raised annually in support of the Rosalin Nickerson CARE Fund, which helps cancer patients throughout the Municipality of Barrington and the Town of Clark’s Harbour financially, emotionally and spiritually. Since being started in 2004, the fund has helped 331 people, dispersing close to $600,000.

“There’s a huge interest in the community,” said d’Eon. “We’re finding a lot more people are aware of it and we’re getting more people using it. I know the awareness is greater than ever. As the years go by, people realize the Rosalin Nickerson CARE Fund is here and what it does.”

With $ 48,000 already raised for the fund through last winter’s Live Well Challenge and another $ 8,400 from the Row for Nanny’s Cure fundraiser, d’Eon said she expects this year’s Walk for a Cause could be record- setting. This year’s cancer survivor speaker is Carole Malone. Emcee is Susan Murphy. An auction, Dutch auction, face painting, live entertainment and a hospitality room that is free to everyone are also part of the event, which gets underway at 1 p. m. The doors open at 12 noon.

D’Eon said organizers could use some support when it comes to the hospitality room.

“If the community wants to do sweets and sandwiches for that, that would be huge,” she said.

D’Eon and her committee would also like to hear from cancer survivors who would like to participate in this year’s Walk for a Cause, as well as from individuals wishing to pre-order roses or balloons. D’Eon can be contacted at 902-635-1624.

“We’re finding a lot more people are aware of it and we’re getting more people using it. I know the awareness is greater than ever. As the years go by, people realize the Rosalin Nickerson CARE Fund is here and what it does.”

— Shelley d’Eon

Shelley d’Eon lays down some memorial roses at a previous Walk for a Cause.