The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Striding against breast cancer
More than 500 participate in walk at White Memorial
LITCHFIELD — The ordinarily green-hued nature preserve of White Memorial Conservation Center turned pink on Sunday afternoon.
The 5K (or 3.1-mile) noncompetitive, nontimed walk Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Litchfield County 2017 attracted more than 500 participants and several local teams to 80 Whitehall Road during a sunny day in the low 70s. Several walkers sported T-shirts, sneakers, feather boas, face-painting and hair dyes in hues ranging from salmon to fuchsia. Pink is the official color of the American Cancer Society’s yearly nationwide endeavors to raise money for treatment, assistance and research to combat breast cancer.
“I walk because I have a dear friend who is a survivor,” said Pat Rodgers of Waterbury, who attended the walk with her granddaughters and a 4-year-old Yorkshire terrier-mix named Charlie in a baby carriage.
One of the several teams sporting pink T-shirts hailed from Oldcastle Precast, a concrete manufacturing company in Avon. Plant accountant Dana Bock-Decoteau was one of the company’s participating 45 employees and their families who walked. “We are here to raise money for breast cancer,” she said. “We plan to also be sponsors next year.”
The event featured raffle prizes, wood-fired pizza and a
survivors dining tent. Organizers said the event will eventually raise $46,000 by year’s end for breast cancer treatment, assistance and research.
“We are two-thirds of the way to our goal with $35,000 in so far,” declared Heather Stocking Byron, American Cancer Society’s community development manager. She gestured to the crowd covering the preserve’s rolling hills, adding, “Look at all this hope. These people are walking for all the people who can’t.”
Joseph Barbetta of the society’s southern New England board, said, “This event just gets better every year. It is a special day that fosters a real sense of community.”
The opening ceremony and rally started at 12:30 p.m. with breast cancer survivors and cheerleaders leading the walk’s warmup. DJs Patti and Brad Adkins played upbeat top-40 dance songs to energize the crowd.
Rhonda Cote and Terry Creighton, from the sponsoring company O&G Industries, a Torrington-based provider of construction services and products, were on hand in the Survivors Tent nearby. The company provided food that was partly catered, solicited from local merchants and homemade.
“This is the third time we have been at the walk and the first time being host,” said Cote. “Our team is named ‘Powerful in Pink.’ ” The team had 20-plus walkers. Cote added the turnout was special for her: “I have been cancer-free for three years.”
Creighton added that the walk was significant for her as well. “I have been a caregiver in the past for family and for friends in their journeys.”
The American Cancer Society’s study “Cancer Facts & Figures 2017” estimates that 252,710 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer and 40,610 will die from the disease this year. About 2,470 men are expected to be diagnosed, with 460 dying.
Volunteers’ stories made the statistics real. Event chairwoman and volunteer Kari Rebehn, 36, said she had been diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29. After undergoing a double mastectomy with reconstructive surgery as well as chemotherapy, her cancer went into remission in 2012.
“Early detection is so important,” Rebehn said. Her cancer experience as well as her participation in American Cancer Society’s genetic study inspired her to volunteer with the national organization.
Rebehn said she brings in everyone she knows to help out with the cause. Her son Donald Boyd of Terryville manned the “Chance” tent, which consisted of a raffle of donated items, including a fitness club membership; four tickets to theater shows in Oakville and Torrington; and flower-shop gift certificates. “It is a good event,” said Boyd.
Jaime Loomis of Bantam and her son, Shane, 4, also helped out at the tent. “I love this event,” said Loomis. “I do this for my best friend, a cancer survivor.”
According to the American Cancer Society, the Making Strides Walk was established in 1984 when Massachusetts breast cancer survivor Margery Gould Rath wanted to find a way to celebrate fellow cancer survivors and to raise funds. Gould Rath created a "movealong-a-thon.” The first event, held in Boston, drew 200 participants and became an annual city tradition. By 1993, the event became officially known as the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, attracting 4,000 walkers in New England towns and in 250 communities nationwide. Gould Rath remained a dedicated Making Strides volunteer until she lost her battle with cancer in 2001.
The organization said that since 1993, more than 13 million walkers nationwide have raised more than $810 million. Funds raised from the event go toward early-detection education efforts, cancer research and providing information, care and assistance to people impacted by cancer.
For more information about breast cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.