By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — Thousands of dollars were raised a week ago during the Bling celebration in Limestone with all proceeds going toward assisting Aroostook individuals battling cancer.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Survivors support each other with hugs after the formal halftime celebration of cancer survivors during Bling on Dec. 14. Shown, from left, are Kevin Simmons, Brenda Curtis, Robert Souther and Laura Smith — all cancer survivors.
Local organization C-A-N-C-E-R (Caring Area Neighbors for Cancer Education and Recovery) will be the recipient of funds raised during the gold-trimmed basketball event on Dec. 14; the final amount of funds raised was unavailable on Tuesday afternoon as donations continue coming in.
More than a fundraiser, more than a basketball game and more than an occasion to celebrate survivors, members of the greater central Aroostook community came out in droves to support the high-spirited event. It’s estimated by organizers that between 700 and 800 supporters attended the Bling-tastic event.
As event organizer Jennifer Poitras had hoped, the gym was packed in black with individuals donning the evening’s official cancer survivor-supporting T-shirts — approximately 500 Bling T-shirts were created and nearly all of them (and their matching yellow wrist bands) were sold.
After months of planning, Poitras been hearing wonderful things about the evening.
“It’s nice to see the community come together to support something really big,” she said.
The Bling celebration, of course, started last year after Poitras (and community as a whole, for that matter) was moved by the courageous story of Limestone varsity athlete Zach Cote, who didn’t let losing part of his leg to cancer stand in the way of his athletic or academic ambitions.
The Bling celebration, unnamed at the time, was being discussed by LCS faculty and friends as Cote approached officially hitting the one-year mark of being cancer-free.
Teachers and teammates wanted to celebrate the anniversary with a fantastic display, but Cote preferred that the team sport either a patch or a ribbon on their jerseys instead to recognize cancer survivors everywhere. A junior at the time of the first Bling celebration in December of 2010, Cote was (and remains) very modest about how his story has inspired those around him.
As uniform regulations prohibited the team from attaching a patch or ribbon to their jerseys, Poitras, fellow LCS teacher Kenneth Hixon and other supporters organized the creation of the boys varsity team’s golden Bling uniforms; from there the survivor celebration snowballed with the help of countless volunteer hours and local business support.
Formally titled “It’s all about the Bling” last year, the event adopted the heading of simply “Bling” this year.
(The “blingyness” of the event lends itself to the “bling, bling” of the golden jerseys, as described Cote’s teammates and friends Aaron St. Pierre, Josh Forsman and Spencer Kaiser when the uniforms were designed last year).
According to Poitras, St. Pierre, Foresman and Kaiser are the reason that Bling was held again in 2011; instead of opting to keep their golden jerseys in 2010, the three requested that the school hang on to the uniforms so that Bling could be held in 2011 — a fact that Poitras made certain to share with the over 700-fan-strong audience that attended Bling’s second year.
Almost $5,000 was raised through Bling last year and donated to the American Cancer Society.
C-A-N-C-E-R was chosen to be this year’s recipient because of the non-profit’s direct benefit to Aroostook individuals battling the deadly disease.
Called “the local cancer group” to avoid confusion, volunteers provide support to individuals facing cancer — both the patients and their families.
“I know from personal experience what it means to have people around you who are supporting you through whatever means — just knowing they’re there and that they care,” said C-A-N-C-E-R President Susan Nickerson.
“It’s extremely rewarding to know that we can help our local neighbors,” she added.
While C-A-N-C-E-R is known for their own famed fundraisers (i.e. the annual Planet Head Day at UMPI) Nickerson was pretty impressed by what she saw at Bling.
“I thought it was a great night — it was packed full of lots of fun,” she said, adding that the game was pretty great.
New to the event this year, the girls varsity team kicked off the evening with their own golden jerseys.
Both the girls and boys varsity basketball team donning the EagleZ team name (EagleZ, of course, to honor their schoolmate) lost their games against the Easton Bears, but not bringing home the “W” didn’t diminish the significance in the least.
During the halftime Cancer Survivor Celebration, LCS teacher Robert Souther recited the Kathy Cawthon poem “The Big C” to a respectfully silent audience while standing on the half-court circle with 11 fellow cancer survivors.
More cancer survivors were in attendance than chose to be recognized during the game — like Jose Rivera of Bridgeport, Conn., a student of the Loring Job Corps Center and a member of the Loring Honor Guard.
Rivera was 10 when a cancerous tumor was removed from his brain.
As the fellow honor guard members posted the colors before the boys basketball game during Bling celebration, Rivera led the crowd in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
While Rivera, Poitras and Cote are just three of many cancer survivors who attended the Bling celebration on Dec. 14, a Memorial Wall was created this year to honor others who succumbed to the disease.
Limestone Community School student Julia Weatherhead presented the idea earlier this fall of having a Memorial Wall during the Bling event, and her idea went over famously with the fans, many of which shared small stories about their loved ones as they penned names and messages of remembrance on the wall.
Jennifer Pinnette, LCS teacher, volunteered to oversee the Memorial Wall during Bling — it was her job to see that there were plenty of permanent markers to go around so that everyone who wished could write the name of a loved one lost as well as a small message on the bricks comprising the banner.
At the end of the evening, every brick contained a name, a message or both.
“Overall, the response has been wonderful,” said Pinnette, whose father died from cancer.
Even at the most Festive celebrations like Bling, remembering those lost to cancer can bring up glimmers of melancholy.
“I think that for people like my Mom and I, who’ve lost someone that they cared about so deeply, it’s kind of bittersweet, but it’s also nice to be able to celebrate the people who have survived,” she added.
As an LCS teacher, Pinnette attended Bling last year as well; overall, she thought this year’s event was bigger and better.
Between 700 and 800 spectators may very well agree with her.
