Florida Opera Theatre will bring Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, to Orlando opera fans in three Central Florida cities January 15-29.

The Orlando performance of The Barber of Seville will be held at 2 p.m. on January 29, at Valencia College East Campus Performing Arts Center, with free parking just 12 minutes from downtown Orlando.

Vero Beach Opera, First Coast Opera, and Florida Opera Theatre collaborate to bring The Barber of Seville to Vero Beach, St. Augustine and Orlando stages with a star-laden cast for one of opera’s most popular productions.

“We’re pleased to be able to bring the dreams of opera fans to fruition,” said Florida Opera Theatre president Judy Lee. “Florida Opera Theatre is producing opera in Orlando and our second production will be as beautiful–if not more so–than the first.”

Renowned tenor Luigi Boccia is Count Almaviva. Boccia was described in The Metropolitan Opera Guild’s “Opera News” as “an uncommonly cerebral tenor.” He is a versatile recitalist whose range spans florid Handel arias to the romantic outpourings of Italian and Neapolitan song. He is joined by a veteran of both The Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera, David Salsbery Fry who plays Basilio.

Orlando favorite and Director of the University of Central Florida Opera Program, Thomas Potter performs Bartolo. Rounding out this very talented cast are accomplished singing actors Kenneth Mattice and Candice Hoyes who portray Figaro and Rosina with comic mastery.

The Barber of Seville is directed by Florida Opera Theatre Artistic Director Frank McClain who, together with Conductor, Chorus Master and Music Director Robin Stamper, bring the operatic performances together. McClain’s opera directing credits include The Medium for Florida Opera Theatre; the Orlando Philharmonic production of La Bohème; The Merry Widow for Opera Tampa; Don Pasquale for Vero Beach Opera; and for Orlando Opera: Il Trovatore, L’Elisir d’Emore, Candide, Le Nozze di Figaro. Mr. Stamper’s conducting credits include mainstage performances of Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, Pagliacci, Sour Angelica, Le Nozze di Figaro and Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’elisir d’amore, Pirates of Penzance and Die Fledermaus.

Florida Opera Theatre is a Central Florida professional opera company dedicated to producing quality opera performances. The organization is comprised of directors, musicians, performers and individuals who have supported opera growth, education and outreach in communities throughout the state for many years.

Tickets are available in this limited seating venue for purchase online at www.FLOperaTheatre.org or by phone: 407-718-4365. Calls will be returned between 5-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and in a timely manner as received. For further information contact: FLOperaTheatre@gmail.com or 407-718-4365.

Rossini’s debut performance of The Barber of Seville at the Teatro Argentina was in Rome in 1816. The Barber of Seville was one of the earliest Italian operas to be performed in America and premiered at the Park Theater in New York City in 1825.

Historically, barbers were precursors to surgeons and highly respected in their communities. Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is a two-act comic opera founded upon the text Le Barbier de Séville by Pierre Beaumarchais.

Rossini’s most popular and recognizable music in this opera are Figaro’s celebrated baritone arias “Largo al factotum”, Rosina’s soprano aria “Una voce poco fa” and the singing duet they have together “Dunque io son.”

The next opera production will be Verdi’s Rigoletto at 8 p.m., Friday, March 2, 2012; and at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 4, 2012, Presented by The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Produced in collaboration with Florida Opera Theatre At The Bob Carr Performing Arts Center

Push it.

Fashion Stylist Erica Warlick

Visit EricaOnStyle.com

Entrepreneurs risk a lot by putting their brand out in front of people. The reward is in sales and new business.

The Marketing Square builds and rebuilds websites for 20- to 35-year-old brands and new businesses in Michigan and Florida. Businesses refresh websites with rebuilds and redesigns to keep website traffic and brand interest constant.

There may be changes in Facebook everyday with time demands that a lot of small and medium-sized businesses simply can’t keep up with because they’re working with clients and customers.

Websites may change. Google algorithms may adjust every day. But the need for easily accessed, clear and functional websites will always remain. Here’s a look at some of The Marketing Square’s Best 2011 Florida Websites.

Erica Warlick, Winter Park, Florida, Fashion Stylist and Blogger recently launched EricaOnStyle.com a build completed by The Marketing Square. Erica and husband Spencer can be seen on Park Avenue, Hannibal Square and other Winter Park area locations doing impromptu fashion shoots. Spencer’s photography highlights Erica’s impeccable selections.

Bankruptcy-Lanigan.com
BodyLinesByMeral.com
BymarShoes.com
FatimaFahmy.com
FloridaOperaTheatre.org
LaniganPL.com
MaryCatherineCouture.com

Push it.

Rita Wilkes, Frank McClain, Bobbie Demme-San Filippo on the set of "The Medium"

As The Medium makes its debut next Sunday, Florida Opera Theatre, will bring the second opera production of 2011, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, to stage for four performances to opera fans in three Central Florida cities on dates from January 15-29, 2012.

This is big news for Orlando which was opera company poor for several years. The revival was supported by opera fans who don’t want to leave the area for a good performance in a city known for its grand productions and celebrated stars at shows on the outskirts of Lake Buena Vista.

Vero Beach Opera, First Coast Opera, and Florida Opera Theatre collaborate to bring The Barber of Seville to Vero Beach, St. Augustine and Orlando stages with a star-laden cast for a favorite opera production.

The Orlando performance of The Barber of Seville will be held at 2 p.m. on January 29, 2012, at Valencia College East Performing Arts Center.

Susan Neves in "The Medium" and "The Barber of Seville"East Campus Performing Arts Center.

Luigi Boccia as Count Almaviva

“We’re pleased to be able to bring the dreams of opera fans to fruition,” said Florida Opera Theatre president Judy Lee. “Florida Opera Theatre is producing opera in Orlando and our second production will be as beautiful–if not more so–than the first.”

Renowned tenor Luigi Boccia stars as Count Almaviva. Boccia was described in “The Metropolitan Opera News” as “an uncommonly cerebral tenor.” He is a versatile recitalist whose range spans florid Handel arias to the romantic outpourings of Italian and Neapolitan song.

International opera star Susan Neves returns to Florida Opera Theatre for a second role following her portrayal of Madame Flora in The Medium. She is joined by a veteran of both The Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera, David Salsberry Fry who plays Basilio.

Orlando favorite and Director of the University of Central Florida Opera Program, Thomas Potter performs Bartolo. Rounding out this very talented cast are accomplished singing actors Kenneth Mattice and Candice Hoyes who portray Figaro and Rosina with comic mastery.

Frank McClain, Rudy Cleare and Florida Opera Theatre president Judy Lee

The Barber of Seville is directed by Florida Opera Theatre Artistic Director Frank McClain and Chorus Master and Music Director Robin Stamper who bring the operatic performances together.

McClain’s opera directing credits include The Medium for Florida Opera Theatre; the Orlando Philharmonic production of La Bohème; The Merry Widow for Opera Tampa; Don Pasquale for Vero Beach Opera; and for Orlando Opera: Il Trovatore, L’Elisir d’Emore, Candide, Le Nozze di Figaro.

Florida Opera Theatre is a Central Florida professional opera company dedicated to producing quality opera performances. The organization is comprised of directors, musicians, performers and individuals who have supported opera growth, education and outreach in communities throughout the state for many years.

Tickets are available for this limited seating venue online at www.FLOperaTheatre.org or by calling 407-718-4365. Calls will be returned between 5-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and in a timely manner as received.

Opera lovers support Florida Opera Theatre

Orlando Performance:

Rossini’s The Barber of Seville 2 p.m., Sunday, January 29, 2012
Florida Opera Theatre in collaboration with St. Augustine and Vero Beach Opera
Presented at Valencia College East Campus
Performing Arts Center
701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail
Orlando, FL 32825

The Cast:

• Count Almaviva                                                             Luigi Boccia
• Bartolo                                                                               Thomas Potter
• Rosina                                                                                 Candice Hoyes
• Figaro                                                                                  Kenneth Mattice
• Basilio                                                                                 David Salsbury Fry
• Fiorello/Coro (chorus)                                                Ken Keel
• Ambrosias                                                                         Eric Pinder
• Bertha                                                                                  Susan Neves
• Officer/Coro                                                                     James Guild
• Director                                                                              Frank McClain
• Costume, Set, Makeup Design                                   Bobbie Demme-San Filippo
• Stage Manager                                                                 Johnny Motoc
• Conductor, Principal Coach, Chorus Master      Robin Stamper

Rossini’s debut performance of The Barber of Seville at the Teatro Argentina was in Rome in 1816. The Barber of Seville was one of the earliest Italian operas to be performed in America and premiered at the Park Theater in New York City in 1825. Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is a two-act comic opera founded upon the text Le Barbier de Séville by Pierre Beaumarchais.

Rossini’s most popular and recognizable music in this opera are Figaro’s celebrated baritone arias “Largo al factotum,” Rosina’s soprano aria “Una voce poco fa,” and the singing duet they have together “Dunque io son.”

The next opera production supported by Florida Opera Theatre will be Verdi’s Rigoletto at 8 p.m., Friday, March 2, 2012; and at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 4, 2012, presented by The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and produced in collaboration with Florida Opera Theatre At The Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available at: http://OrlandoPhil.org/Rigoletto/.

Further information is available at www.FLOperaTheatre.org

Push it.

Drawing by Thomas Thorspecken

Florida Opera Theatre presents its debut opera production, The Medium, by Gian Carlo Menotti, featuring internationally acclaimed soprano Susan Neves in two performances: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, December 3, and 2:30 p.m., Sunday December 4 at The Black Box Theatre of the Orlando Repertory Theatre.

The Medium is a one-hour, two-act opera selected in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Italian-American composer Menotti (July 7, 1911 to February 1, 2007).

“This is our first season producing opera,” said Florida Opera Theatre President Judy Lee. “Our original timetable had opera production on the schedule for year five, but we have received wonderful support and have been lucky enough to secure the help of some very talented people.”

Susan Neves

The Medium is being directed by Florida Opera Theatre Artistic Director Frank McClain, with support from Chorus Master and Music Director Robin Stamper.

“The Medium is an intense musical drama,” McClain said. “We have assembled an amazing cast with Susan Neves and some of Central Florida’s very best home talent. It is a simple story with enormous psychological overtones and for maximum effect the production will be presented in an intimate environment.”

McClain’s opera directing credits include the Orlando Philharmonic production of La Bohème; The Merry Widow for Opera Tampa; Don Pasquale for Vero Beach Opera; and for Orlando Opera: Il Trovatore, L’Elisir d’Emore, Candide, Le Nozze di Figaro.

Florida Opera Theatre is a Central Florida professional opera company dedicated to producing quality opera performances. The organization is comprised of directors, musicians, performers and individuals who have supported opera growth, education and outreach in communities throughout the state for many years.

The Medium was first produced in 1946 at Columbia University and later had more than 100 performances on Broadway. The story is set amid the devastation of post-war Europe and Neves performs in the lead role as psychic medium Madame Flora who becomes the victim of the voices she conjures during one of her fraudulent séances.

Neves in Turandot

Neves has performed in the Opera Bastille in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, L’Arena di Verona, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and many others.

Neves’ spring performance as the lead in the Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Turandot was described as a “soprano voice that pierced through the clamor with laser-like precision,” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“Susan has appeared numerous times at the Metropolitan Opera and all over the world,” Lee said. “Her parents live in Orlando and she has been extremely generous to us with her time. We’re still pinching ourselves to be sure we actually have Susan Neves as Madame Flora in our production.”

Menotti was a librettist who composed a classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, but also wrote two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular tastes. He won the Pulitzer Prize for two: The Consul (1950) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955).

The Medium, Menotti’s first international success and features arias including “Monica’s Waltz,” “The Black Swan,” and “Afraid, Am I Afraid?”

Tickets are available in this limited seating venue for purchase online at www.FLOperaTheatre.org or by phone 407-718-4365. Calls will be returned between 5-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and in a timely manner as received.

For further information contact: FLOperaTheatre@gmail.com or 407-718-4365.

The Cast:
Madame Flora “Baba”                                Susan Neves
Monica                                                             Shannon Jennings
Toby                                                                  David Grindrod
Mrs. Gobineau                                               Samantha Barnes
Mr. Gobineau                                                 Brent Reilly Turner
Mrs. Nolan                                                      Johanna Nordham
Director                                                            Frank McClain
Music Director and Pianist                       Robin Stamper
Set Design, Costumes, Props Master    Bobbie Demme-San Filippo

The next Florida Opera Theatre production will be The Barber of Seville at the end of January 2012. There will be one performance in Orlando, two in St. Augustine for First Coast Opera, and one in Vero Beach. Further information will be on FLOperaTheatre.org

What: Menotti’s The Medium
When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, December 3, 2011
2:30 p.m., Sunday, December 4, 2011
Where:  The Black Box Theatre in
The Orlando Repertory Theatre
Tickets: www.FLOperaTheatre.org
407-718-4365

Push it.

Celebrating Ken's Birthday

I was up early to visit my Dad in the hospital every day for six weeks as he struggled to survive a sudden and dangerous illness called Sepsis.

But thankfully, today, I was up early to make a special breakfast for Dad at home so that I’d have time to pickup a chocolate and vanilla ice cream cake. Later, his close friends were coming over to celebrate his 81st birthday.

I actually don’t know how I slept those horrible days in the hospital. Many nights I didn’t sleep at all and when I did, it was lightly because I was listening for the phone to ring. Ken had been so sick that every hour, every minute of the day was waiting for him to recover from the sudden and usually fatal illness that takes over a million lives annually.

My routine was to jump out of bed call the hospital, grab coffee, a shower after calling to find out from the night nurse what happened overnight and if Ken was still OK.

As soon as I dressed, Mom and I would go visit and stay with Ken and sit by his bed waiting and watching, keeping vigil as he lay in a coma, then in recovery, then in ICU, PCU and Rehab at Florida Hospital South. It was  a long horrible wait. But today, here we are, together again home for the big eight-one.

Ken is 81 on November 1. This is his biggest birthday because he fought and won against a deadly infection. He has been called a miracle man because he survived Sepsis which only a small percentage of people are able to do at any age.

That Ken survived it at his age is monumental. And there’s no way of knowing how he got it. It’s a blood disease that comes on rapidly, suddenly with high fever, shakes, and a myriad of severe symptoms that can shock and overcome the entire body.

After rushing him to the emergency room where he struggled to breathe and was intubated and put into a coma to try to stop the infection. For two straight weeks Ken was in ICU  and living hour-to-hour.

There were all night hospital stays with his status worsening, his body weakening by the hour and by the minute. He was not improving, his body was not fighting. It was terrifying and heart-wrenching and we felt helpless every time an alarm went off because his heart wasn’t beating or his blood pressure dropped dangerously low.

Through it all, I kept saying I wanted more time with Ken. I wanted to tell him I loved him and be able to see his eyes open again.

He survived because of all the tubes and medicines and amazing doctors (15) and committed nurses at Florida Hospital South. We spent every day all day at the hospital and left only when the nurses kicked us out of ICU each night. Then we slept with the phone by our sides, clothes on and keys ready in case we had to race to the hospital in the middle of the night.

I remember the moment that I called the hospital and got the first report saying that he went through the night with no “incidents or episodes.” It was week four. He had progressed to critical. But that meant that now he had to undergo surgery to have a pacemaker put in.

As Mom, my brother Lloyd and I waited in his room, friends and generations of family praying for him to live, I wanted to find some way to do something for him–we all did. But we were helpless as Ken’s life almost ended daily, multiple times during this medical ordeal.

Not knowing what was going to happen, I told him as he slept that he would be fine. I told Mom and Lloyd that he was strong and that he would fine, that he would be coming home soon. I thought positive thoughts and forced the perpetual lump in my throat and the tears from my eyes.

Ken was not ready to leave us. He has so much to share with us and to do. He’s got to come back home to play Scrabble and do The New York Times crossword with Mom. He’s got a great grandson on the way into his life. An 81st birthday to celebrate. He has family and friends who love him very much and can’t wait to see him. He has stories to tell and so much more life to live.

Ken is a popular guy because he’s kind and interesting and is a very likable, funny man. Ken married my Mom after my Dad died, so he’s actually my stepdad. But who says that anymore? A Dad is a Dad and I’m lucky to have two in my lifetime. I also gained another sister, Leslie, and brother, Lloyd, to add to my sister Maria and brothers Chris and Ben.

Ken was a well-known musician who had a wonderful, successful career playing the double bass. A Julliard graduate, he started playing bass with The Don Shirley Trio and segued into playing with orchestras including The Metropolitan Opera, in symphonies, chamber groups, quartets, quintets, from New York to Europe and Asia.

His finale in the twilight of his career was bringing an orchestra together for a several-week performance of Porgie and Bess in Japan in 1996.

Ken has told me some wonderful stories over the years about musicians he played with including Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Barbra Streisand, Leontyne Price, Bob Hope and many others. The tales are clever because of what he decides to share and inspirational because he found nuances in everyone he met that made them great in his eyes.

I had begun to keep notes and asked him about his family, friends and highlights beginning last year when he celebrated the big eight-oh last year.

When Ken finally, thankfully, and against all odds awoke from an anaesthesia-laden coma we all cried and felt some relief. We watched the very moment that his eyes opened again. We waited for him to squeeze our hands. We breathed again when he blinked to let us know he understood us. Ken was on his way back. The infection was stopped.

It could be a month they said before he could get out of bed, sit, or stand or walk. We’d have to wait and see if he would have all of his faculties back. Ken had a very high fever when he was first sick. It was 104. That was worrisome along with all the heavy pain meds, new heart meds (he has survived after a triple bypass and three stents) meds to do this and that. We were not sure if Ken, who is sharper mentally than most people I’ve met, would have brain damage.

It was another long week before Ken was out of critical condition. Another two weeks before he was allowed off tube feeding. But it was wearing on him as he also has horrible pain and discomfort. With this, he can get very discouraged and I always try to find something for him to look forward to or think about.

You see, pain, is a very destructive force and long, continuous and non-stop pain can be devastating on the psyche. It’s exhausting and can be disheartening.

I know a little about this because I’ve had migraines and constant nerve pain for more than 30 years. But I suck it up, go to the acupuncturist and keep it moving.

However, you can’t say that to someone in as delicate a condition as Ken’s. No way. Nor would I ever think of suggesting it. When I say that it’s an internal motivator. Not something I’d say to another person. Well, sometimes I almost say it when I hear a whining woe-is-me-story told by someone who really has nothing to complain about.

But with Ken, whom I love very much and admire and have been blessed to have as a wonderful father for 25 years, I wanted to help him find a little motivation to help him in his long recovery. So I started to record his stories. I’d heard many of them over the years, and now, I was using them to help prompt his memories and mind which were slightly confused. He remembered things as I told them back to him and he started telling some that I hadn’t heard before.

He’s gotten very adept at recanting the past so we’ve recorded a few and he looks forward to this now. I’d like to share them and will put them together for the family. His first great grandchild, a little boy, will like to know a bit about his wonderful and funny Great Grandad.

When I went into the hospital several weeks prior to his birthday, I was all ready to hear some more stories from Ken but he was a little down. He’d had another setback so I was trying to brighten his day with something, anything. I didn’t know what because I’d tried food (he loves ice cream), an orchid, playing classical music and was not sure what else to do. He was so discouraged and wasn’t sure if he would be able to go home.

Then I thought of something I knew he loved very, very much: his beautiful Standard Poodle, Mr. Duke Ellington.

I had asked the staff to see if we could eventually take Ken to the hospital doors in a wheel chair so that he could at least see Duke in the car outside the hospital. But the doctor instead said that I could bring Duke into the hospital for a visit.

I drove Duke over in the car and walked him right in the front door of the hospital. They allow pet therapy and it’s apparently pretty common because no one stopped me.

Waiting for Ken

As we waited in the beautifully flowered and landscaped courtyard, Duke was nervous and excited.

I walked him around and around to settle him. I wanted to make sure he appeared therapy-like and not like an untrained crazed animal.

I walked Duke up to the door where I knew Ken would come out. And Duke calmed down. He stared at the door like his life depended on it. He must have sensed Ken was on the way because he didn’t budge. When Ken came out, Duke and he found

Reunited

each other with a touch to Duke’s curly head. As Ken looked at Duke and talked to him, Duke stood there gently and wagged and licked his hand as the two were reunited. It was tearful and exciting and a relief for both of them as they’d not been apart from each other in nine years minus a vacation here and there.

I usually try to keep the fact that I love dogs to a minimum but I’ve always had rescued mutts and Dobermans over the years and have helped rescued dogs most of my life. T-Rex, a rescue, is aging and arthritis-ridden so I can’t take him to the hospital to visit Ken. But Ken said he’s waiting to see him when he comes home.

We all are praying that Ken will be home in a week. It’s what he’s living for in every weight he lifts and stair he climbs. Saturday Ken relived the joy that Duke brought to him as he asked Mom to tell him over and over again about how Duke came to the hospital to visit.

Together Again

I’ve captured the moments for our family in pictures. Maybe I’ll put them into Ken’s book when it’s finished and it will be finished because Ken’s going to make it home.

If a Doberman and a Poodle are keeping him going, then we will do everything we can to make them a part of every day. For now I record lots of videos of the dogs for Ken and share them with him when the pain is bad or he’s had a rough day.

It seems silly maybe watching dogs barking at each other. But that’s what makes Ken laugh so hard that he crinkles his eyes into a squint and laughs when I show it to him and I watch the tears of joy slip gently down his face.

We found out after six weeks that Ken was coming home–he just called–saying I am coming home today. No special requests, no big meals. ”I only want peace and quiet and to be with you guys.”

The family will all be with him in spirit every step of the way, kids, grandkids, and friends, Mom, Duke and Rex, because as Ken always says, “here we are, together again.”

Push it.

I’m walking in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in honor of my friends, family and loved ones past and present who’ve suffered and or survived breast cancer.

7:30 a.m. Sunday, October 16 at UCF in Orlando, Florida, I’ll walk for Team Body Lines by Meral, Meral Ertunc and along side some of the strongest women in all of Florida.

I’ll be walking with my friend, my personal trainer and an inspirational woman Meral Ertunc. Meral’s team Body Lines by Meral, Meral Ertunc has about 10 members and we’re each responsible for raising $150. No problem.

Everyone should be able to find it in their hearts to give in honor of the mothers, sisters, aunts, friends and grandmas they know and love who have breast cancer. A dollar, a $5, a $50 here and there, no problem.

I’m looking forward to seeing the survivors, who like Meral and my Aunt Marilyn, who have been through the impossible. I want to look in their eyes and see their smiles, their strength and their courage because I want to be able to tell them I’m glad their here and I admire their heart.

I’ve seen this strength before in my dear Aunt Marilyn Grable who is one of the kindest, most generous and funniest people I know.

Aunt Marilyn has this innate ability to laugh at just about everything and when we talk there’s a giggle before or after what she says.  She can laugh in good times, she can laugh in bad times. She smiles when she talks and  she smiles while she listens. She seems to enjoy everything and almost everyone thoroughly. She explores life daily and is learning or studying something new all the time.

She gets involved in politics, she loves history, she’s a Stephen Minister, she loves arts and the opera (she showed me my first opera). She learned to love cats — well one actually: her cat Ginger who plays with ping pong balls in the bathtub at two in the morning and pounces in my hair as soon as I fall asleep when I visit.

Aunt Marilyn loves life more than anyone I know. She has a good time all the time, way more than most people do no matter what it is she’s doing and I think I understand why. More than 20 years ago Aunt Marilyn had a double mastectomy.

Aunt Marilyn is a breast cancer survivor, a mother of two daughters, and a life lessons teacher. Next to my Mom, Aunt Marilyn has taught me a lot about what matters most. And at the end of the day it’s about heart: Do you have it? Can you share it? Have you given it?

Now is as good a time as any to start giving if you haven’t already. Support the hearts of women everywhere by giving a little time on a Sunday morning. Share by giving a donation to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. There are Races across the country to participate in everywhere.

I know I’ll be there for Meral, Aunt Marilyn and all the other women I know and even those who I haven’t met who need a little heart as they continue to fight the battle of their lives.

Push it.

The University of Central Florida Athletics introduced a new annual football game day campaign called UKNIGHT in PINK to raise awareness for breast cancer research and raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

A $50 UKNIGHT in PINK package includes a game ticket to the 4 p.m., October 8 UCF vs. Marshall football game and entry to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Race 7:30 a.m., October 16, both held at Bright House Networks Stadium on the UCF campus.

UCF Athletics will donate $3 from each UKNIGHT in PINK Ticket Package sold to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. A UKNIGHT in PINK “Runner” Package provides:

• UKNIGHT in PINK football game ticket – UCF vs. Marshall, Saturday, Oct. 8
• Commemorative UCF PINK PATCH
• Access to UCF and Komen’s PINK PATCH Tailgate Party Oct. 8
• Discounts to local restaurants, retailers with THE PATCH
• Race for The Cure Participant entry, 7:30 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 16
• Race T-shirt
• Race Bib
• Race Finisher Pin (upon race completion)
• Entry into Survivor Ceremony Oct. 16

A UKNIGHT in PINK Walker package is $45 and more race day information is available at KomenCentralFlorida.org

Push it.

I got this request from BASE CAMP Children’s Cancer Foundation and ask friends to please send a note and or a Shamrock to show support for Marlie as she fights Cancer.

Marlie Dodson is a brave 7-year-old girl. She has battled cancer twice and conquered it.

She has faced many side effects from treatments that she will deal with for the rest of her life such as damaged thyroids, permanent hearing loss, very thin hair and stunted growth.

Though she is bullied at school for her “funny looks” (despite many visits to her classes by nurses), she still faces the world with a smile on her face and a positive attitude.

For years Marlie has been the BASE CAMP spokes child as she is the first to welcome new campers and offer words of encouragement and friendship. She has wisdom beyond her years and she brightens up the room when she walks in.

Marlie has made it into remission for two years. This is a big milestone as after the two-year mark the chance of a re-occurrence drops significantly. After five years she will be proclaimed cancer free.

Shortly after the picture above was taken, doctors found cancerous tumors in her brain and along her spine. It is a critical time for Marlie as her previous battles with Cancer have her radiation levels maxed out and limit her options for treatment. I am writing to not only ask for prayers for Marlie but also to ask for pen pals.

Marlie will be in the hospital for six to eight hours a day and will need something to do during those long hours. Her mom has asked for pen pals. She asks that you “make her a shamrock, write her a personal note, and send it to her. I think that would make her smile, and she will be surrounded by good luck charms.”

If you have a moment, please make a shamrock for Marlie and help me spread the word. Please send your shamrocks to:

Attn: Rachel Perez/Marlie Dodson
BASE Camp CCF
140 N. Orlando Ave, Suite 120
Winter Park, FL 32789

Who Will You Help Today?
©2011 Rebekah Brown

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