Donors ‘stick it’ to pub patron to benefit charity

BANGOR – There was a strange decoration hanging at Raena’s Pub on Sunday that talked and drank and enjoyed the barbecued chicken. That was until $120 was paid to seal up his mouth.

The “Duct tape Joel to the wall” fund-raiser was held at the pub Sunday to raise money to help fight cancer. People paid 25 cents per inch for the tape used to stick the local resident, who wanted to be identified by only his first name, to the wall.

“I heard they need someone, so I volunteered,” the 39-year-old man said from his sticky post.

All the funds raised will benefit the Relay For Life at the high school in Old Town on May 20 and 21. Members of the relay team, the Farriswheelers, put on the fund-raiser, organized by team captain Anita Farris and Diane Newman, both of Bangor.

“We just hit $1,010,” Newman said after the event concluded.

“We raised $120 for the taping of his mouth,” she said. “This is really too much fun.”

Relay For Life is a two-day event sponsored by the American Cancer Society in which participants gather to support cancer research while enjoying the camaraderie of a team and the community formed by cancer survivors, their families and friends. Relay participants will run or walk relay-style around the track while other cancer-related events are held.

When pub owner Raena Everett walked through the door just before 2 p.m. she screamed with laughter when she saw Joel, a regular pub patron, up against the wall taped to a 6-foot piece of Plexiglas.

“I thought that’s kind of a cool idea,” she said. “It’s not the same old thing; it’s creative.”

Raena’s Pub is located behind 3G Food Mart on Main Street, between Lincoln and Larkin streets.

To ensure the funds raised would go to cancer research, donations of everything from the duct tape to food were solicited from several area businesses, including team sponsor Norris Inc. of Bangor, Farris said.

Every time someone walked into the pub, Joel made sure he was noticed by telling jokes to explain what he was doing stuck to the wall. Until the end of the fund-raiser, the human wall ornament could talk freely because the tape wasn’t allowed near his face.

All of the funds raised Sunday will be added to about $2,200 already raised by the Farriswheelers.

The event was designed to be fun, but underneath the laughter was the serious story of cancer and how it can tear apart a family.

“I lost my dad at Christmas to cancer,” Farris said. “And I know 18 friends or relatives that have passed or are affected by cancer.”

Farris lost her father, Leroy Farris, 64, of lung cancer at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 24.

“My mom was a survivor, and my dad passed away from it,” Farris said. “He was a strong man. … A stubborn Aroostook County man who didn’t want to admit what was going on.”

Her dad was also a man who liked to have a good time, Farris said.

“I know he would have liked this,” she said.