Big crowd attends return of For Women Only event that celebrates cancer survivors

Event also honors those lost to cancer, and highlights local services for those fighting the disease

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Joyce Chizick of Lyndonville won this basket just brought to her by volunteer Cora Young at For Women Only.  Chizick and her friend Christine Krisher have attended many For Women Only events together in past years.

LYNDONVILLE – A crowd filled White Birch Golf Course Thursday night for the first For Women Only event since Covid.

The purpose of the event, which has been a popular sell-out for many years, is to celebrate cancer survivors, honor those lost and support cancer services in Orleans County.

Joyce Chizick and Christine Krisher were two of the guests who love coming to the event. Friends since 1976 when Chizick designed a float for the bicentennial, they both know people who had cancer and want to support cancer services in Orleans County.

Twin sisters Darlene Rich and Charlene Pratt of Medina have rarely missed an event in recent years.

“We’ve been to every one except 2006, the year I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” Rich said. “We don’t miss Treasure Island either. We are so lucky to have a community hospital, and attending these events is a good way to support it.”

Lori Condo, assistant comptroller at Orleans Community Health, welcomed the crowd and introduced guest speakers.

The name and picture of Medina native Sherri Boyle was one of those shown on the screen during For Women Only. Boyle died in 2022 at the age of 61 from a rare breast cancer. Pictures also honored cancer survivors.

Kim Gray, chief nursing officer and director of surgical services, shared the pride she takes in her job at Medina Memorial Hospital, taking care of the people in the community she has known since she was a kid. A 20-year employee, she praised all the services offered at the hospital, including surgical, diagnostic testing, and, coming in the next few months, multiple therapies, including pulmonary function testing by the Respiratory Department.

“Orleans Community Health is a pillar of health and wellness in our community,” Gray said.

Lead technologist and technical director of echocardiology at the hospital, Rhonda Woody, is a 26-year employee of the hospital. She was recently honored by Buffalo Business First as one of their 25 “Excellence in Health Care” recipients.

Artist Carol Culhane, right, watches as Devon Heveron of Lyndonville writes her grandmother’s name on a leaf to place on the Tree of Life that Culhane designed. The framed tree will be hung in the hospital lobby.

“Our hospital is doing very well by leaps and bounds,” Woody said.

She praised the addition of cardiologist Dr. Harry McCrea and the fact that each and every department at Orleans Community Health is accredited. She added the hospital has the very best equipment available and can stand up to any hospital in the city. She urged everyone to bring their doctors’ scripts to Medina Memorial Hospital.

Danielle Figura, director of Orleans County Mental Health, added her support for women battling cancer. Her mother is a 23-year cancer survivor, she said.

“Every time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women,” Figura said. “Women don’t need to find their voice. They need to be empowered to use it.”

Maegan Suhr of Lyndonville told her story of her daughter being diagnosed with brain cancer when she was 4 months old. That was about seven years ago.

A special education teacher and mother of two, Suhr said there is so little done to raise awareness of childhood cancer.

“Last month was Childhood Cancer Month, and you saw nothing about it,” she said. “It’s not pretty to talk about. It’s an ugly and tragic disease. It changes you forever.”

When her daughter had been lethargic and not feeling well, Maegan and her husband Joe Suhr took her to the doctor, who said the tests and scans would not take long and they could be on their way.

“Five minutes later he rushed into the room and said, ‘Your daughter has a softball-size tumor on her brain.’ Hours later she was in surgery.”

Suhr recalls signing the consent form acknowledging that the treatment they would give her could also kill her. Six months later, there was another surgery, followed by five months of chemo.

“She spent the next few months in and out of the hospital,” Suhr said. “She went from 12-month-old sized clothes to six months.”

At the age of 14 months, Suhr said her daughter turned the corner. She had an amazing team of doctors, but she still faces multiple problems seven years later.

“Nothing in life prepared me for the last few years,” Suhr said. “You never expect to hear your child has cancer. My hope is I can spread awareness and our collective resources can make the government give more than four percent to research of childhood cancer.”

(Left) Medina native Mercedes Wilson, cancer survivor and TV host, made a return appearance as keynote speaker at For Women Only on Thursday night. (Right) Lori Condo, assistant comptroller at Orleans Community Health, welcomes guests to the first For Women Only since Covid at White Birch Golf Course Thursday night.

She urged everyone to support cancer services, lend a hand to families dealing with it and donate.

Mercedes Wilson is a return speaker to For Women Only, having been the keynote speaker at the last event in 2019. A breast cancer survivor, author, entrepreneur and host of 7Life with WKBW Channel 7, she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer when she was just 28 years old.

“That changed everything,” she said. “I was newly divorced with two children.”

She faced eight rounds of chemo, during which she lost her hair, her hands and feet turned black – and everything hurt, she said.

She had her first of three surgeries on Dec. 20, 2011.

During the experience, Wilson said she learned life is lived in relationships.

“You have to love, shatter glass ceilings and connect,” she said. “Breast cancer showed me the definition of love. If you find a way to give back, that can be your act of love.”

Her glass ceiling came from a relationship with a co-host with whom they couldn’t agree on anything. But that worked it out and now are on friendly terms.

“That kind of relationship causes you to grow,” she said.

She said people are meant to connect. Positive relationships that add value to your life mean you have someone to laugh with.

“Hug someone tonight. Shake someone’s hand before you leave,” she urged.

Before the evening ended, a tribute was paid to Cindy Perry, who headed Community Partners and organized For Women Only for many years. She is out of town, but will be presented with a gift when she returns. She was also assisted by Nicole Helsdon, who was in attendance.

Other special features were honoring cancer survivors and remembering those lost by showing their name and picture on a giant screen, and a Tree of Life designed by local artist Carol Culhane. Attendees could write the name of a cancer patient on a leaf and stick it on the tree. The framed tree will be hung in the lobby of the hospital.

Maegan Suhr of Lyndonville shares about her daughter surviving brain cancer after being diagnosed seven years ago.

The evening also included hors ‘d oeuvres, a 50-50 drawing and basket raffle.

Vendors who participated were Orleans Community Health, Genesee and Orleans County Health Department, Hospice of Orleans, Orleans County Mental Health Department, GOWN Cancer Services Program, Barbara’s Wreaths and Things and Bomb Party (Techelle Stephens).

 For Women Only was generously sponsored by Baxter Healthcare, Takeform, Nesbitt Fruit Farms, Plummer Orchards, Community Action of Orleans and Genesee, Kristine Hydock, Partyka Farms and the ACT Program.

Special thanks is also owed to supporters Carol Culhane, Case-Nic Cookies, Lori Condo, Megan Johnson , Amanda Luckman, Erica Chutko, Jeannie Wodo, Scott Robinson, Eli Howard and everyone who donated baskets and raffle items.

Condo informed the women that the profits from the event would benefit cancer services programs at the hospital.