Write a commentThe 17th annual St. Baldrick’s Day in Oswego County fundraising event will take place this Sunday, April 16, from 1-4 PM at Curtis Manor in Oswego.
Volunteer Event Organizer Dan Witmer helped plan the first local event in 2007, and he’s led the drive to help raise funds for childhood cancer research every year since.
He says, “We started with about 35 team members agreeing to shave their heads in solidarity with sick children, and we managed to raise about $11,000 that first year. Within ten years, we had over 200 shavees and we had to keep moving the event to a larger venue. Our most profitable year was 2015, when we raised over $97,000.”
“The scope of the event has broadened over the years, and every year it seems we bring in another population, another part of the community and, while we also lose various groups over the years, some have been with us almost all the way,” he explained.
What started with a team-building community service project for the Oswego State men’s lacrosse team is now an event that includes support from Fulton, Hannibal, and Mexico – and this year includes connections form outside Oswego County as well.
“We received donations form the Camden Central School District this year, separate checks from the Administrators’ Association and the Teachers’ Association, and we’ve gotten tremendous support from the Jordan-Elbridge community as well. Wegman’s and Chick-fil-A on Route 31, and the Syracuse Mets, the Crunch, and Syracuse University aren’t in Oswego County but they all support our event and make donations so we can maximize our success.”
Through five different coaches over the past 17 years, the Oswego State men’s lacrosse team has been the most committed Laker team to support the St. Baldrick’s fundraising. This year’s squad has raised more than $7,700, the most since 2010. This year the Laker men’s and women’s track and field teams have gotten involved, raising more than $1,100. Over the years, men’s hockey, men’s soccer, and even women’s hockey players have registered as shavees.
Fundraising teams come in all different sizes and from all directions. In recent years, the Fulton Police Benevolent Association has been one of the larger and more productive groups, with 12 team members and more than $4,500 raised. The Bearded Brethren, a group of four friends from Hannibal, have been participating for roughly ten years, and this year their team has raised over $2,000. Players and coaches from the Oswego Minor Hockey Association have been participants since the second year, and this year’s team of four has raised almost $2,000.
In addition to about 40 heroic shavees going bald for the cause, Sunday’s fundraiser will also feature numerous raffle baskets and a silent auction. Items from the Oswego Speedway, Syracuse Football, the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Knighthawks and Amerks, donations from the Notre Dame, University of Virginia, Cornell, LeMoyne, Yale, and Oswego State lacrosse programs, Oswego State men’s hockey, F&F Bargains, both the Fulton and Oswego YMCAs, local authors Mike McCrobie and Jim Farfaglia, and lots of local businesses and restaurants.
This year’s event will also include live music, awards, a 50/50 raffle, and lottery board. Food and drink will be available, and admission is free.
To register, make a donation, or learn more about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, go to www.stbaldricks.org.
