THON's $10.68 million breaks record

Tables are set-up to serve dancers a meal.
Photo by Shawn Annarelli

I wish we never had to leave.

That is what I‘ll say when someone asks me about my experience at THON weekend.

The first minute

THON’s Overall Chairperson Elaine Tanella kicked off THON’s finale with a two-minute introduction before leading a 10-second countdown for dancers to stand up.

Everyone else stood and followed Tanella’s lead. When the dancers stood, the Bryce Jordan Center quaked. 

“I came to dance, dance, dance, dance,” hit the loudspeakers, and the 46-hour dance maraTHON was on.

My first time on the floor

On Saturday morning, I walked onto the BJC’s court at 7:36 am. 

First, I saw a balding child, her dad and several dancers and their moralers playing with a beach ball. She had on a navy blue t-shirt, pink shoes and a pink bracelet, but the smile she wore caught my attention the most. Like so many other cancer stricken children in the BJC, she found herself being a kid again.

Then, I looked to my left and spotted New Kensington's four dancers – Joe Mandak III, Kelsie Nury, Erin Prager and Andrew Holodnik.

They each exuded the same childlike excitement the little girl showed. I have never witnessed four people display as much heart as they did together.

Family Hour

The 42^nd hour of THON’s finale is reserved for THON families to speak about their battles with cancer and or walk on stage.

This year, Jay Paterno kicked off Family Hour with an eight-minute speech. He challenged anyone outside of Penn State to come to THON to see what Penn State is really like.

But following Paterno were several THON family speakers that left the BJC in tears.

First, Heather Carter spoke about her son Bryce, who was diagnosed with sarcoma cancer one year ago. She hopes Bryce will be able to walk without crutches by the end of 2012 after Bryce undergoes a 20-hour surgery to replace his femur.

The last THON family speaker was Penn State freshman Vinnie Carrano. This year, Carrano danced in memory of his deceased sister, Lauren.

Carrano told the packed BJC that Lauren was diagnosed with leukemia when she was seven years old in 1994. She lost her battle to cancer on Feb. 26, 1996.

“I honestly don’t know what my family would have done without THON. All of you gave us strength to carry on.” Carrano said. “She fought with all of her life for two years and never, ever complained.”

He said that for all of the hours he danced at this year’s THON, he never felt closer to Lauren.

The last minute

After 46 hours on their feet, THON’s 706 dancers sat in unison at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Their laboring was over, but the finale was just getting started.

Money rose from the top 10 campuses and student organizations were revealed, but the grand total is the moment everyone looked forward to. Over 16,000 rose for the last theatrical revelation.

The crowd broke moments of silence with a tremendous roar when the last two numbers, 10, were shown. The $10.68 million raised broke records, broke barriers and offered another giant leap forward in the fight against pediatric cancer.

Aftermath

As I walked out of the BJC it occurred to me that I didn’t want to leave. I had sore feet, ankles, legs, shoulders and an aching back.

All I wanted to do was stay.

But we had to leave, because there is more work to be done. There are more canning weekends ahead of us, more THONvelopes to mail out and more children to support.