Saugus walk, festival aims to raise funds for research of rare cancers

SAUGUS – World Series Park and the First Congregational Church in Saugus are teaming up to sponsor the Dave Webster/TargetCancer: Community for a Cure fundraiser, which will be held Sept. 14-15.The event – featuring a dinner, walk and day-long family festival – will raise money and bring awareness to the rare and lesser-known cancers, according to Bob Davis.?Bile duct is rare and esophageal is another,” Davis said. “People are getting cancer in their hip, it?s just weird stuff. There?s no protocol for dealing with it. They know how to deal with breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, but there?s no protocol for the rare stuff.”Davis said all proceeds will go to TargetCancer, a nonprofit organization that raises money for rare cancer research.?It?s a small operation but they?re out there and do a lot of big fundraisers,” said Davis. “The money donated doesn?t go to any administrative costs at all. It all goes to research. We?re trying to make it so people can do their part to cure cancer. We think we?re actually going to raise quite a bit of money from this.”According to Davis, the event is named after Dave Webster, who was 47 when he died last December from bile duct cancer. Davis said Webster had only been diagnosed a few months before his death and left behind his high school sweetheart Joann and three children, Amanda, D.J. and Katie.?Dave Webster we knew as a parent of a kid who played baseball at the park,” said Davis. “His wife also helped us with the Special Olympics. When he died they said in lieu of flowers make donations to TargetCancer so we looked into it.”The two-day event will kick off with a pasta dinner at the First Congregational Church in Saugus Center on Friday, Sept. 14 from 5-7 p.m. The donation is $7.On Saturday morning, Sept. 15, the Dave Webster/TargetCancer: Community for a Cure Walk will step off at 9 a.m. from the First Congregational Church and will finish at World Series Park. There is a $10 per person donation to sign up for the walk.Davis said participants are encouraged to walk in memory of or in honor of a cancer victim or survivor and to get sponsors for their walk. All walkers will receive a badge and a T-shirt.Once the walk ends at World Series Park, an opening ceremony will take place followed by a full-day festival of music, food, raffles, a moon-bounce for the children, antique cars, guest speakers and a few surprises, Davis said. Scott Wahle, a former host of WBZ-TV?s morning show and community and summer theater actor, will also be on hand, according to Davis.The event will conclude with a closing ceremony that will include a tribute to the memory of departed loved ones who were victims of cancer, said Davis.For more information about the events contact Carolyn and Bob Davis at 781-233-4555. For more information about TargetCancer check out targetcancer.info.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].