The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Thousands help to give cancer a good threshing at Beaufort event
BRENDAN Ferris and the organising team behind ‘Threshing Cancer’ were gifted a glorious day to stage their rescheduled event, which had fallen victim to the torrential rains of a fortnight ago.
However, nothing but blue skies and high temperatures greeted the 4,000 people making their way to Gortnascarry on Sunday for a day of family fun and farming nostalgia, and all the disappointment of a cancelled event seemed to disappear in the warm October day.
As well as the usual exhibits of farm machinery and the rural way of life stretching back 100 years, the day also paid homage to one of its famous sons – entrepreneur and strong-man Butty Sugrue, born nearby in Gortnascarry in 1924. Stories and tales of Butty’s exploits were relayed to guests in a specially erected tent in which members of Killorglin Archive Society pieced together old video footage and spoke to people who fondly recalled the mighty Butty in his prime.
The noise of threshing machines and old tractors cackled away in the background, filling the autumn air with an atmosphere more reminiscent of high summer, while the main motivation behind the day was raising funds for vital cancer support services, something Threshing Cancer is pretty good at, having raised over €76,000 to date.
“It was an incredible day and I would say it was one of the biggest crowds we’ve had since the whole Threshing Cancer started,” said Brendan Ferris.
“Butty’s event was a major success and it’s thanks to the Killorglin Archive Society who put so much work into it and interviewing people on the day. We haven’t a final figure raised yet as the money is still coming in but we gave away €27,000 last year and I’m pretty confident we’ll beat that after Sunday’s crowd,” added Brendan.
Cancer is something Brendan knows all too well as the deadly disease impacted on his family in the past and he is anxious to remind people of a free event at The Oaks Hotel, Killarney, on October 19 in which leading experts will give a talk about cancer.
“A lot of people don’t realise how important Threshing Cancer is for raising money in the battle against cancer and you don’t really know about cancer until you’ve lived with it, and I would encourage people to come to The Oaks Hotel on the 19th to avail of the free discussion,” said Brendan. “Finally, I want to thank all our sponsors and volunteers, and the people who turned up. We’re very grateful and the people who will benefit will also be grateful.”