Talented local bands have been added to the agenda for one of The RO Foundation's unique events taking place in Fredonia this fall.
On Oct. 6, Fredonia's downtown landscape will be filled with walkers and music lovers alike for the Patrick K. Coughlin Walk/Missing Links Com-munity Connection and Friends West Fest.
While taking one of five mapped walking routes through Fredonia, participants walking in honor of Pat and the Cholangiocar-cinoma Foundation, as well as awareness of Hunting-ton's Disease will end up at different sections of Central Avenue once their walk is completed.
After completing their walk route, walkers will spread out along Central Avenue, forming The Miss-ing Links Community Connection, in honor of Robert and Joan Link - the late parents of RO Founda-tion co-founder Maggie Owens. An actual hand-to-hand human chain will form among the walkers from the Dunkirk City line to Fredonia at the signal of various church bells, as well as chimes from the SUNY Fredonia campus bell tower. The last and final hand-to-hand connection will be made between the Link and Coughlin families in front of Village Hall in Fredonia using the Links' welded-together wedding bands, making the circle complete.
"We need at least 1700 people from all communities to make this enormous dream come true. Not only do we need lots of walkers but we need sponsors, as well," stated Dawn Murphy and Jodie Korzenski, event coordinators.
Tuscany Meats & Deli, McDonald's, Wendy's, Pepsi, Burger King, Glen Acres Nursery, Mary's Deli, Dan's Moving & Storage, the Nathan George Foundation; and Pucci One Carpets have signed on as official sponsors.
The RO Foundation, growing in notoriety in the area, operates on a mission to assist patients and family members with unexpected travel to treatment centers, both near and far, for treatment of long-term illnesses by helping with gas, food and lodging.
Proceeds for this year's event will assist two local families the Donald Stoyle family and Bruce Magee family. A scholarship award for a high school senior hockey player will also be awarded with the remaining portion of the Walk/Community Connection's proceeds to honor Pat's memory.
"We will also be assisting many more local people through The RO Foundation with proceeds from the second part of the day the Friends West Fest," added event organizer Danielle Marx.
Immediately following the walk, participants will join in a huge pizza party with music, entertainment and bounce houses available at Barker Common. Then beginning at 2 p.m., The Friends West Fest will commence and every hour on the hour, talented local bands will be donating their time to play at each west side of Main Street establishment in downtown Fredonia.
Kicking off the live music celebration at 2 p.m. will be Clear Blue Skies at Ellicottville Brew Company; at 3 p.m. from BJ's music will be provided by Left of Center; DeJohn's Spaghetti House will host Roll of the Dice at 4 p.m. on their back deck; Coughlin's will be hosting US at 6 p.m.; the MAC Band (or Musicians Against Cancer) will play at 6 p.m. from 41 West; and a live music finale will begin at Coughlin's at 8 p.m. with the talents of Big Tone.
Preregistration is encouraged for all walkers to ensure a timely start to the day's activities. By taking advantage of pre-registration, walkers will be entitled to pick up registration packets, complete with T-shirts, route maps and instructions on Oct. 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the gymnasium of Holy Trinity, 1020 Central Ave., Dunkirk. Event organizers hope that pre-registration will prevent any bottlenecking of lines for the registration table on the day of the event.
In-person registration will commence at 9 a.m. from Barker Common.
Donations will be taken for the event at each west side Main Street establishment throughout the day. A donation of $10 will entitle the participant to two tickets per establishment for a free coffee, soda or beer. Pizza and other food items will be available throughout the entire afternoon.
The RO Foundation is a fund officially affiliated with the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation. To learn more about this and other events, readers are encouraged to visit their official website at www.rofoundation.com or to call NCCF at 366-4892. Walk preregistration can be completed on the website, or at any local branch of Inner Lakes Federal Credit Union.
