Ski 4 A Cure Raises Largest Donation to Date
Ski 4 A Cure Raises Largest Donation to Date
The Ski Club of Lockport presented a check of $12,500 to fund cancer research
(L-R) Bill Rosenberry, Ed Youmans, Tom Doran, Melanie Pritchard, Allison Lockwood, Jon Laverty and Julia Doran.
The Ski Club of Lockport (SCOL) offered Roswell Park Alliance Foundation a presentation check in the amount of $12,500 on April 10, 2025 at HoliMont. For every dollar donated to cancer research, Roswell can leverage an additional $23 from external grants, such as immunotherapy, which equals $287,500 for this year.
Despite a lower overall number of event tickets purchased, the third annual Ski 4 A Cure was more successful than the previous two in overall revenue, activity participation, and raffle items numbering a total of 53.
Skiing conditions were great, courtesy of HoliMont’s trail grooming. The weather was partly cloudy with the sun coming out at times, which all made for fantastic skiing! The fun-filled day of events included a free demo day provided by The City Garage Ski Shop, and a scavenger hunt where ten skiers took selfies with the selected items from a new list that was provided by HoliMont. Grab bags were awarded to four winners.
We had 25 participants in the Bombardier game, who purchased numbered tennis balls and raised $314. Each skier, from the Exhibition chairlift, attempted to drop his or her ball into a large trash can below. Swag bags were awarded to six winners. Thanks goes out to SCOLer Sheila Flanagan for obtaining 20 swag bag prizes.
The Giant Slalom, “Match Your Time Race,” consisted of each racer taking two separate runs through the gates on the Fall Line course. We had 23 racers compared to 9 last year and awarded six grab bags to the winners. Racers received their times and cheers from SCOLers with cowbells at the bottom of the run.
For our signature event, the third annual Cancer Survivors Parade, we had 24 participants, including a guide and ski patrollers. Many participants wore color beads to represent the different types of cancers. We met at the top of Exhibition Run and were guided through a scenic course to the bottom of Exhibition where we received cheers from SCOLers with cow bells!
A special thanks to our three Gold Level Sponsors who contributed $1,000 each to Roswell Park Alliance: Doran and Murphy, National Grid, and Prudential. Thank you to Team Pritchard for their $400 sponsorship of the “Match Your Time” race.
We would also like to thank the following businesses who entered our special basket raffle of items of $250 or more: Snowflake, HoliMont, Kissing Bridge, Roswell Park, the Ski Company, and over 20 other businesses for donations in kind. Thanks to the following SCOL members for their generous donations in kind of over $250 for special basket raffle items as well: Tim & Gwyn Ryan, Jon & Mary Laverty, Paula Bowers, and Jack Rimlinger.
Other thanks go out to Amanda, Allison, and Dave from the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation for their help with the planning of the event and day-of-event help. We thank EllicottvilleNow and publisher Brenda Perks for an amazing article and for including our Ski 4 a Cure poster in their January edition, and to The Villager for their article. We thank channel 4 for a television interview, and channel 2 for giving us a chance to promote Ski 4 A cure.
We thank Ellicottville businesses for displaying our poster and to Ellicottville Mayor John Burrell for giving an inspirational speech about his treatment at Roswell. Thanks to Dina’s for reducing the price for their catered lunch and to SCOLers Mary Ann, Pam, Melissa, Jon, Mary, Julia, and Rolf for various desserts, candies and chocolates as well as to Deb D. For creating signs and tent cards.
Finally, we are indebted to the nearly 30 SCOL volunteers who made this event possible and to all the SCOLers who came out to support us. Save the date: Friday, February 13, 2026 at HoliMont. We’ll keep the price affordable and it will be bigger and better than before!
- Ski Club of Lockport