Together, We’re Blazing a Trail!

 

On the evening of Saturday, November 21, 2015, an extraordinary group of individuals came together for an epic showdown with LMS. To those ‘Upbeat Like Millie Wild West Roundup & Leioymosarcoma Fundraiser’ sponsors, attendees, donors, volunteers, and entertainers, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support. We successfully raised $13,000 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institutes LMS Research Department! As my Mom, Millie, would say, “You did good!” 

 

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our sharpshooting sponsors; The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Infinite Care Coordination, Greeno Supply Packaging & Maintenance Supplies, GreatBlue Research, The Fox Family and Warner Theatre. Our second annual ‘Upbeat Like Millie’ event could not have happened without your generosity. You are most appreciated!

 

Thank you to our Deputy Sheriff and Master of Ceremonies, Kent Hurlburt, for rounding up one determined posse for a good ol' fashioned Wild West adventure and for helping to push the notorious outlaw, LMS, out of town once and for all. No one will ever be able to fill them thar’ boots of yers! 

 

To the extremely talented individuals who graced our Old West saloon and put on an unforgettable theatrical extravaganza, thank you! Penny Sunshine Brandt, Reject Dance Theatre, Hawkapella, Brad Rolland, our twin daughters Anabella and Farrah Blancato, and K.E.C. Party, you engaged our guests and provided them with a range of fun and energetic entertainment that left them feeling absolutely fantastic! It was a privilege for all of us to enjoy your performances and to be in your company. 

 

A big beautiful thank you to Heather Guilmette, our fun-loving photographer for the evening! Your pictures captured the laughter, the heart-felt tears, the oodles of love and support, and the overall positive and upbeat mood of the evening. We are truly grateful to you to have these pictures of our special event! 

 

Thank you to Maneeley’s Banquet and Catering for providing the Lodge, the perfect venue for our Wild West theme. Your grub was out of this world and your staff went above and beyond to accommodate our guests and make our event a huge success! It is always a pleasure working with you Sandy Dimitratos! 

 

To Sharon, Sebby and the remarkable staff of Sharon Elizabeth’s Floral Designs, thank you for going the extra miles for us as you transformed our venue and took us back in time to the Wild West! The props, the flowers, the lighting, we loved it all! It’s always a pleasure working with you, from start to finish. 

 

Thank you to those who supported our fundraiser through your kind-hearted silent auction donations; Dave DeGuglielmo, The New England Patriots, Tom Brady, Sensations Day Spa, Starbucks Somerset,  Veronica Pagani-Kraus, Glastonbury Dance Center, Rania Philippou, Solful, Roosters Men’s Grooming Center of Glastonbury, The Sow’s Ear, Andree’s Waffalloons, Liquid Nirvana, Caribbean Charm, Hall’s Arrow, The Vigeant Family, Anytime Fitness of West Hartford, Andre Breton, Suzanne Balducci, Pastries 4 Pets, The Silver Dahlia, Patrick Buckley, Glastonbury Hunt Club, Little B Barn, Center Wine, The Carey Family, Tracy Brash of Cartoon Network, Tanya Hall, The Cassanelli Family, Moana McAuliffe, Lee Fenwick, and Ryan Hannigan of RBH Designs. 

 

A very special thank you to Amanda Kohl, our ‘Upbeat Like Millie’ partner who gives of her time to find a cure for LMS enthusiastically and whole-heartedly. You inspire us to keep at our quest and to never give up hope that better treatments for this rare cancer are within reach.You have a beautiful heart Amanda and we are blessed to have you in our lives.

 

Thank you to those of you who worked behind the scenes to help us achieve a smooth and successfully run event. Christian Lofvall, thank you for your tech savvy assistance. You were our Wyatt Earp for the evening! Your nerves of steel, patience and resolute manner while figuring out all of the audio and visual issues was extraordinary. Thank goodness for you! Mary Moss, our Jimmy Fund Special Events Development Officer, you are a complete joy to work with! Your assistance, guidance, dedication, and efficiency in helping us to plan a successful fundraiser was greatly appreciated, as was your attendance at our event. Having you and Kelly McLaughlin at our door to greet our guests with those beautiful smiles of yours set the upbeat mood for our event. It was a priceless gift that the two of you gave us that night. Thank you! A shout-out to the very talented and creative ladies of Emily Rose Style Group for glamming us up for the big night, Wild West style! And to Dennis House, our good friend and CT Eyewitness News anchor, thank you for lending your voice and upbeat attitude to help us raise LMS awareness. We are much obliged!

 

To Dr. George Demetri, Director of the Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we offer you our sincere appreciation for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk to us via video as our guest speaker. Providing our guests with some insight into LMS and acknowledging the importance that our fundraiser has on continued life-saving research was a pivotal moment at our event. Your words hit home with so many of us. Your realistic and optimistic view regarding sarcoma was a breath of fresh air. The evening was filled with so many wonderful moments, and your presence, albeit on a big screen, was the icing on the cake! Thank you.

 

Our second annual ‘Upbeat Like Millie’ LMS Fundraiser was a great success thanks to the generosity of so many extraordinary people. Our dedication to raising awareness and funding for continued research is vital, for you just never know when the next major breakthrough will be. In a split second a discovery could make an incurable disease curable, or a fatal one into one that is manageable. It is important that we all lend a helping hand, in some fashion or another, for cancer effects us all. We thank all of you for your ongoing support!

 

Happy Trails, Y’all! 

Project Sandy Toes & Soggy Dollars

~ Lisa, Mark, Anabella, Farrah, Soleil and Hudson Blancato ~

 

Please consider supporting the businesses and entertainers mentioned above as a thank you for being so generous to ‘Upbeat Like Millie.’