WestFest 2012

PKC Walk/Missing Links Community Connection

October 6, 2012 – Barker Commons, Downtown Fredonia

The PKC Walk/Missing Links CC was brought about after Patrick passed in July. We where in the process of doing the Friends West Fest when he passed, then decided to do something in his honor, since he was our biggest advocate, and came up with the walk. We also wanted to do a human chain to benefit my partner Maggie’s cause, which is Relay for Life, through her team Missing Links, named after her parents Robert and Joan Link who passed from cancer.

We combined the three events into one big event and there you have the “Friends West Fest” – Patrick K. Coughlin Walk/Missing Links Community Connection. The event took place on October 6, 2012 in downtown Fredonia, NY in the Barker Commons. 506 people from the community participated in the walk and pizza party after the walk. All the West Main Street bars sponsored the WestFest after, with each bar featuring local music by Clear Blue Skies, Left of Center, Roll of the Dice, Big Tone, Mac Band, US plus A Capella singers from SUNY Fredonia and food donated by local vendors.

We where able to help two local families in need, the Donald Stoyle family and the Bruce Magee family, also two charities, the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation and Huntington Disease Society of America, plus a scholarship in Pat’s name to a senior from the area that plays hockey and is pursuing a collage career for Business or History major. The balance of the proceeds will help the RO Foundation to assist patients and families with travel for long term illnesses to treatment centers and hospitals for treatments in the form of gas, food and lodging.

The event was a huge success that brought the community together for a great cause and to all bearer the colder temperatures to support this event, a HUGE THANK YOU!

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