UW marching band to 'band together to beat cancer'
For Release:
Carbone Cancer Center, UW School of Medicine and Public health
Oct. 22, 2014
CONTACT: Susan Lampert Smith
(608) 890-5643
ssmith5@uwhealth.org
MADISON, Wis. – With the tweet of the drum major’s whistle and the drum beat of its run-on cadence, the University of Wisconsin marching band will take to the field at Camp Randall Nov. 15 to march against cancer.
For the second year, band members are raising awareness for the UW Carbone Cancer Center by wearing special sashes emblazoned with the names of people who have had cancer.
Until the end of October, you can honor a loved one by ordering a sash that will be worn by a UW band member. A $250 donation to the cancer center will create a sash to be worn on the field by a band member during the Nov. 15 Nebraska game, then mailed to the donor. Sashes can be ordered here at uwhealth.org/beatcancer
Even though they are young adults, many band members have been touched by cancer. Band members will receive a second sash with the name of one of their loved ones with cancer that they will keep.
Cara Argus, a mellophone player from Johnson Creek, wanted to honor both an aunt who had breast cancer and her grandfather who had prostate cancer last year, so she recruited another band member to wear the second sash. The day meant a lot to her.
“For a Christmas present, I gave my grandfather a framed photo of me wearing the sash with my band uniform,” she remembers, “and he cried when I gave it to him.”
The experience last fall meant a lot to Mickey Francis, a trombone player from Muskego, who marched with a sash honoring his late aunt Judy Davidsz.
“My Aunt Judy had a long fight with ovarian cancer and passed away my freshman year here at UW before she had a chance to ever see me march on the field,” he says. “She was a big fan of Mike Leckrone as well as a huge fan of Wisconsin football. I like to think that there was someone with me on the field that day.”
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