Friends and family of Garfield student Wade Johnston will come together and rally in support of his fight against cancer as SkyLane Bowling Alley in Garrettsville will host a scotch doubles benefit fundraiser on Oct 4. at 6:30 p.m.
“It is just nice to know that because we do live out of the district, the teachers at James A Garfield, and the community of Garrettsville will be there for a 5-year-old boy is just amazing,” Wade’s mother, Mary Johnston told The Weekly Villager. “It can be close to home and his friends can go and people don’t have to drive far because a lot of his friends are in Garrettsville, so I am just thankful for them to be able to go the bowling alley.”
The fundraiser will be a scotch doubles bowling competition, where pairs of two will compete as one against other pairs. The two partners will alternate bowling in each frame and their scores will be added together as one. In addition to a scotch doubles competition, there will also be gift baskets raffled off. According to Johnston, the organizers have already collected 50 gift baskets that will be raffled off throughout the evening. Some gift baskets are courtesy of local businesses from Garrettsville, Mantua, Kent, Ravenna and Mogadore while others were personally assembled by residents who wanted to donate a something to Wade’s cause.
All money raised will go to the Johnston family so they can cover medical bills and travel expenses in Wade’s battle against cancer.
Johnston, an Expanded Function Dental Assistant at Ellerhorst Dental in Mantua, acknowledged that it has been a trying time for her family, as Wade is preparing to undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer. It is a significant step in his treatment, having been diagnosed with cancer in late July.
Johnston said that the family recently discovered that Wade had a bump on his back, and it was not getting smaller. After they consulted with Wade’s primary physician, he underwent surgery to have his bump biopsied. Initial tests indicated that Wade was dealing with two forms of cancer, germ cell cancer, tumors that develop from specific cells in the body called “germ cells” and an unidentified form of cancer that has still not been diagnosed.
After several procedures, Wade will begin chemo and radiation therapy at the same time.
“We will be doing our first cycle of chemotherapy starting on Friday for four days in the hospital and then the radiation. We will be heading down to Cincinnati for six weeks to do proton therapy which is targeted to only the certain spot that has the cancer tumors that were on his armpit and his shoulder so we will be in Cincinnati for radiation only,” Johnston noted.
Johnston credited her friends and colleagues at Ellerhorst Dental for assisting in creating a fundraiser for Wade. She said that it was only fitting that the fundraiser be at a bowling alley, as Wade is an avid bowler and has his own bowling ball.
Although the Johnstons’ reside in Charlestown Township, which borders eight other Townships in Portage County and is located in the Southeast School District, the support for Wade’s fight against cancer has been overwhelming.
“I work with a bunch of amazing Christian women at Ellerhorst Dental and they asked if we wanted to do a fundraiser for Wade and I said absolutely,” Johnston said. “People have been coming into the dental office and purchasing tickets, with friends, family, our UPS guy, everyone has been purchasing tickets when they see the baskets or donating money to Wade to help support us with our travel and medical expenses.”
She added that SkyLane Bowling became the chosen venue for the fundraiser as one of her colleagues participates in a bowling league that competes there.
While it has been a trying time, Johnston added that Wade’s resiliency and positive outlook has been an inspiration for his entire family.
“He is our little hero,” she noted. “We know if it was us going through it, we would be big babies living on the couch complaining and not wanting to move. This boy gets out of the hospital, and the first thing he wants to do is ride around in his RTV so I mean he is resilient. He just gives you that courage so that everything is going to be okay.”
The scotch doubles benefit bowling fundraiser will not be the only event dedicated to Wade in October, as Johnson noted that the Garfield volleyball team will be dedicating their Fight Against Cancer match toward the season’s end in Wade’s honor.
