STOGUIDE pages 85-116:Layout 1 10/30/07 1:15 PM Page 102
C O M M U N I T Y
“It’s a hard weekend for the staff in a lot of
ways, but they are incredibly empathetic and
are so good at taking care of these people.
They take them grocery shopping, if they need
that, shuttle them around if they’ve missed the
bus. One year we made three trips to the emer-
gency room. Another year a very sick man
arrived, alone, without any food or any money
to buy it and we bought him what he needed.”
This level of generosity and appreciation
for how much their efforts mean to cancer
patients and survivors is what sustains the
many volunteers who work on the event,
explains Jo Sabel Courtney, who co-founded
the event with Dr. Patti O’Brien, herself a
breast cancer survivor and activist, who prac-
tices at Fletcher Allen Health Care and teaches
at the University of Vermont.
T
he outpouring of support from cancer spe-
cialists, many from the Vermont Cancer
Center at Fletcher Allen, who volunteer to
lecture and lead seminars is the keystone of
the weekend’s educational and medical sup-
port component. “These oncologists are so
accessible to the patients, it really changes
their lives. The doctors bring amazing new
research, discoveries and treatments. Whatever
is happening in the cancer world is discussed
at the Weekend of Hope, that’s how up-to-date
these doctors are.”
Through the registration process, weekend
Create Memories During Your Trip to Stowe...
organizers help match people with doctors and
other patients based on their diagnoses. It is
not unusual for a guest to learn of a new
approach from either a physician or someone
with their cancer type and to use that informa-
tion to “tweak their diagnosis and treatment
when they go home,” Jo explains.
“When we first organized this event we were
so amazed by the response and what we could
do because the Stowe business community is so
Great for generous. Everyone realizes we are serving peo-
Parties & Family
ple who are sick, many very sick. Someone may
Reunions
register to come and then they may pass away
before the weekend, or get too sick to travel.”
Emotions run high all weekend long.
Lectures are educational, heartfelt and occa-
sionally hilarious—a perfect recipe for tears
which reflect the emotional gamut from joy to
sorrow, from despair to hope. Last May’s clos-
ing ceremony at the Trapp Meadow captured
all those feelings, but it was also a celebration
with rocking music for dancing. The flags that
Kid-Friendly were made throughout the weekend were hung
Beading Projects
in the meadow. A Lakota healing prayer was
read. The wind died down for the moment of
silence and then the hugging and goodbyes
began. Friendships had been made, which
N
E
W
would continue by phone or email.
Participants had learned about the latest
advances in their cancers, had experienced
music therapy, yoga, nature walks, and were
100 Mountain Road • Stowe • 253-7753 • www.upaintitpottery.com
reminded that hope, laughter and positive
thinking combine for potent medicine. a73
102
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