The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Memorial foundation shows they care
Mark Monroe foundation touts melanoma prevention
While the acronym of the Mark Monroe C. A.R.E. Foundation represents Cancer Awareness Research and Education, the word itself also perfectly sums up their goals.
Foundation director Dave Black of Sherrill truly cares about helping prevent melanoma. Their latest outreach -sun-shielding dugouts at Maxwell Field in Oneida -- is just one of many skin cancer prevention projects accomplished in the nearly 15 years since he started the foundation. Black even assembled a pair of young local cancer survivors, 14-yearold Camdyn Cross and 7-yearold Tyler Moore, to throw the first pitch of the Little League season on April 29.
“That is going to be the best part for me,” Black said as he prepared last week for that big pitch event. “It is really an honor for me to be able to bring them out.”
The foundation has distributed safety information and donated sun screen, visors, and other related items through such groups as the YMCA, the KEYS Program, and Madison County Children’s Camp Lookout. The best cure for melanoma is prevention, Black said, and education in the ways of melanoma prevention is their main work.
And all of the foundation’s accomplishments have been in the memory of Black’s family friend Mark Monroe of Olean, who lost his own battle to melanoma in 2003. Monroe’s wife had noticed an oddly-shaped mole on his back, and it was tested to be skin cancer, Black recalled. Given three months to live, he only lasted another three weeks, passing away at the age of 53.
Black said the companionship since elementary school of golf enthusiast buddy Monroe, especially to his brother Jim Black, also of Sherrill, was such a motivation in his life that he carries onMonroe’s legacy. Black started the foundation shortly after Monroe’s death, and is the organizer of the annual Mark Monroe Memorial Golf Tournament.
“I have such good memories of Mark,” Black said. “He was a mailman, and they say if he delivered to an elderly resident’s home in the winter and their steps were not cleared off, he would shovel them before returning to his route. He was that kind of guy.”
The tournament, a fundraiser and awareness raiser for the cause, returns for the 14th year to Barker Brook Golf Club in Oriskany Falls on June 17. Three-time melanoma survivor Alicia Caraway of Syracuse will return this year as one of the main speakers for the event, telling the group of her own journey with the disease and offering a look at a face behind the fight against the deadly disease. Caraway said she enjoys the camarade-
“(Monroe) was amailman, and they say if he delivered to an elderly resident’s home in thewinter and their steps were not cleared off, hewould shovel them before returning to his route. He was that kind of guy.” — C. A.R.E. Foundation director Dave Black
rie of her time spent with the golfers.
“I really like the group -- they have a good energy and a good attitude,” she said. “This is all for a good cause, and I’m glad to help get the word out about melanoma prevention.”
Golfer Dan Ames was playing at Barker Brook last Thursday, and said he is planning to once again join the tournament, having his own fond memories of Monroe. Ames said he played a game withMonroe and found him to be a dedicated competitor, although at the same time a friendly and compassionate man.
The tournament itself is no so intense, but rather a good time for players of all skill levels, Ames said.
“It’s pretty laid back,” he explained. “We have a lot of fun and really enjoy getting together in Mark’s memory.”
Participants come from across New York State and all over the country, from as far away as Michigan, Maryland, andWashington State. Barker Brook owner Mike Intartaglia said working with Black for more than a decade, and meeting all of the golfers from all over who visit his course that day, has been an enjoyable experience.
“We do 70-plus outings like this a year, and we can really tell which ones have a driving force like Dave Black who is totally committed to the cause,” Intartaglia said. “He makes our lives much easier.”
Seeing many of the same faces each year has created quite a camaraderie not just between participants but with the club itself, he said.
“They come from near and far, and we’ve gotten to know them well over the years,” Intartaglia explained. “They aren’t just players now, but friends.”
The Mark Monroe Memorial Golf Tournament is June 17 at the Barker Brook Golf Club, located at 6080 Rogers Road in Oriskany Falls, with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. It has a captain and crew format. An entry fee of $85 will include green fees, cart, prime rib or roast turkey dinner, and the award party at the clubhouse afterwards. Beer and soda will be provided during the day. Registrations should bemade by 7:30 a.m. the morning of the tournament.
Dinner alone is $27 per person. For more information, to make a donation, or to volunteer to help out, contact Black at (315) 7964863 or email dmblack57@ yahoo.com