Bone marrow donor match found for youngster

loading...

Although they nearly had their bags packed for an expected flight to Wisconsin next week, the family of 9-year-old leukemia patient Tristan Hersey of Glenburn won’t be doing that for a few more weeks, they learned Wednesday.

And while that is a temporary setback in the treatment process for the Glenburn Elementary School third-grader, the best news is that a bone marrow donor match has been found, and Tristan will be receiving a transplant.

“The plans are, now, for us to leave the first of July, and for him to have the transplant around the 18th,” said Tristan’s grandmother, Joletta Campbell, with whom he lives.

And while she’s a little unsettled with the change in plans, she is absolutely thrilled that a match was found, since a detailed check of Tristan’s ethnic background indicated he is of American Indian descent, something the family did not know.

“I was shocked they found one, and found one so soon,” Campbell said of the donor. “I thought this would go on indefinitely.”

And although Tristan has been receiving chemotherapy lately, “he’s doing really well,” his grandmother said, “and he is back home.

“Right now, we’re just at a point where he’s got to climb back up a bit” and get rested for the trip that will take him to Milwaukee for a treatment that could save his life.

Pupils of the 4th and 5th grade classes at Glenburn Elementary School have been working hard to help Tristan and his family with the expenses incurred by his illness.

The group recently sponsored a very successful sock hop at the school, for which WEZQ disc jockey Dave Russell donated his time and music.

That event raised more than $1,000 to help defray the family’s travel costs.

The GES pupils publicly thank Russell for his contribution, and also thank the local Pepsi-Cola distributor, Wal-Mart and Shop ‘n Save for contributions of soda and ice.

In the meantime, these same youngsters, their families, friends and community members are planning another fund-raiser to help Tristan and his family with the financial support they need for all that lies ahead of them. The family will be staying in Milwaukee while he is undergoing treatment.

A benefit dinner and auction is planned for 5-9 p.m. Friday, June 29, at the school.

Donations of items or gift certificates for the auction, and purchasing tickets for the event, would help greatly in this fund-raising effort.

If you can make a donation to the auction, or you would like to purchase tickets, call Kathleen Kazmierczak in the Glenburn School Department superintendent’s office at 942-4405.

The “official” opening of the 25th Anniversary Season of the Old Town Museum is 2 p.m. Sunday, June 10, at 138 Main St. in Old Town.

Doors will open at 1 p.m. for visitors who want to preview exhibits before the program, which will feature members of the award-winning Old Town High School Jazz Ensemble, begins.

The work of noted local artist Elaine Harris will be on display, and refreshments will be served by Our Neighborhood Club of Old Town.

In celebration of its 25th year, the Museum will honor some of the founders and dedicated volunteers who were there when the facility opened in July 1976 in the former waterworks building on North Fourth Street Extension.

The museum moved to its present site, the former St. Mary’s Church, in June 1996.

The first honoree is Genevieve Violette who arranged exhibits and served as hostess to those who visited the museum, and continued to volunteer past her 90th birthday.

Favorite displays have been refurbished and improved, and audio tapes are available for a self-guided tour of the logging exhibit.

The museum is free and open to the public; has ample parking; is handicap accessible and open 1-5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday in the summer.

Carla Bommarito, 2001 Relay for Life chairwoman for the Penobscot Unit of the American Cancer Society, publicly thanks “the residents of Penobscot County for their generosity and support.”

Bommarito reports 83 teams participated in the ACS fund-raiser last month at Old Town High School, “raising over $128,000 for the American Cancer Society’s research, education, advocacy and service programs.”

More than 150 survivors participated in the opening lap and survivor recognition, and she extends “special thanks to the many Relay for Life volunteers who worked to make this event a success.”

Bommarito also expressed her appreciation to event sponsors Georgia-Pacific Corp., Adelphia, Dead River Co., ZA Lemforder, Guilford of Me., Shop ‘n Save, Z-107 and WVII Channel 7.

Tanglewood 4-H Camp and Learning Center in Lincolnville needs a fleet of good, used bicycles.

Tanglewood representatives say the bicycles would help campers navigate in and out of the 830-acre section of Camden Hills State Park where the camp is located.

Tanglewood Camp is a program of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. The donated bike fleet will be inspected and maintained by an AmeriCorps volunteer who was trained in a professional bicycle shop.

Anyone with a mountain bike or bicycle helmet in good condition that is no longer being used is asked to call Tanglewood volunteer Molly Schauffler at 338-6370.

Advance reservations are now being taken for a public viewing of a private peony garden.

The event, sponsored by The Peony Society of Maine, is 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at 23 Ohio St. in Bangor. The rain date is the same times Sunday, June 24.

Donations are $2 per person. Proceeds will purchase peony plants for the Littlefield Demonstration Gardens at the University of Maine in Orono through the Society’s educational program.

The garden features more than 80 different varieties of peonies, and refreshments will be available.

Advance reservations can be made by calling Ken Liberty at 945-9762 or Sue Mock at 962-6671.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.