Published in The BANAR November 2009
By Bill Horne
On a cool but glorious October 4, almost 200 adults, kids, dogs, strollers and whatever ran and walked the scenic 5k course, bringing in over $25,400 for the Run for the Cure for breast cancer. The community spirit was infectious and the number of participants and money raised set a new record. We easily broke the $100,000 cumulative mark for all our Walk/Runs.
Organizing committee chair Lynn Sewell said, “Thanks to the great community spirit in the Hamlet, the generosity of our business people, and a hard-working committee, the local Run for the Cure keeps getting bigger and better every year. Even in these cautious financial times, our community knows that breast cancer does not take a break. Again this year, thanks to the generosity of Freedom 55 Financial, $6,000 will be added to the over $9,000 raised by their regional team and its family and friends. We appreciate the significant corporate donations from Sherry Woodburn at the Wholesale Outlet and Lafarge Canada Inc.
It was especially inspiring to see several pink t-shirts among the crowd, signifying breast cancer survivors.
We were very pleased to see a large contingent of the University of Ottawa section of the Ottawa Lions, the largest track club in Canada, who train at the Louis Riel Dome. Another new addition was the great massage therapy service donated by Craig Faller RMT. Participants were treated to refreshments compliments of Tim Hortons Blackburn Hamlet and Metro Blackburn Hamlet before the Run, and to a great spread of pastries and fruit afterwards, supplied by the Blackburn Arms Pub Restaurant. Runners and walkers also enjoyed bottles of water from Shoppers Drug Mart.
The raffle produced about four dozen great prizes, thanks to the generosity of the following local merchants and professionals: Blackburn Barber Shop, Edward Jones Investments, Mac’s Milk, Jumbo Restaurant, Dr. Chantal Plant Dental Centre, J and S Auto, Joe’s Barbershop, Blackburn Pharmacy, Think Travel (Lynn Sewell), Imilio’s Pizzeria, Spic and Span Cleaners, Joe’s Auto, Hair Alive, Blackburn Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic, Queens Pharmacy, The Wholesale Outlet, Claudette’s Alterations, Blackburn Public Library, Children’s Welcome Centre, Young Chow Restaurant,Wally’s Bistro and Bar, Innes Mart, Jan’s Workout, Ritchie Feed and Seed, Subway Restaurant, Ole and Helene Viel, Royal Galipeau M.P., Phil McNeely M.P.P. and Innes Ward Councillor Rainer Bloess.
Again this year we put several of the higher value prizes in a silent auction, and this produced additional contributions, thanks to: Hop ‘n’ Vine, Elmvale Home Hardware, Virtuo.ca, Little Turkish Village gift certificate, donated by Cloutier and Miller Real Estate Services, snow clearing by MacDonald Equipment. We are most grateful to the Blackburn Hamlet website webmaster, Helen Rosseau, for her untiring work in keeping our event coverage up to date, and the vast number of pictures she took. Thanks to Banar editor Evelyn Budd for its coverage. The East Ottawa Star also carried several articles, both online and in print.
Blackburn residents and others can look forward to another Run for the Cure next October 3rd, 2010, as we fight to overcome this terrible disease that affects one in eight Canadian women.