After raising four thousand dollars last year, the Catch a Wave team will be hosting its third annual Catch a Wave for Winthrop charity event on March 27.
Originally scheduled for March 20, the event was ironically postponed due to late-winter snow, making Catch a Wave’s mission of bringing summer to the winter gloom even more resonant.
Heading this year’s planning team are seniors Brandan Lawrence and Robert Catinella, and juniors Claire Korber, Chloe Purick and Sydney Tamburello.
The core trio of advisors are English teachers Mr. Robert Hempel and Mrs. Christine Starr, and art teacher Mrs. Gale Domingo. English teacher Mrs. Jennifer Hansen “caught the wave” as well and has helped by involving her club and classes in key contributions to the event.
Proceeds from ticket sales and half of the proceeds from club sales will go towards Winthrop Hospital’s Cancer Center for Kids. The other half of clubs sales will go to the clubs themselves, helping fund club activities and purchase necessary equipment.
“The center is a pediatric psycho-social treatment facility that has an outstanding patient recovery rate,” Catch a Wave adviser and English teacher Mr. Robert Hempel said, “by applying the medical research of taking the fear out of the doctor’s office to enhance cancer treatment effectiveness.”
The event features a beach-themed concert with some of Massapequa’s most talented young musicians. Additionally, clubs will be selling refreshments and beach goodies on the “Boardwalk” starting at 5:30 p.m.
“Students and their families should come to the concert and expect to have a great time,” senior and senior coordinator Robert Catinella said. “Catch a Wave is beneficial to the school, the musicians, and of course Winthrop [Hospital].”
The concert portion of the event begins at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium. Students are free to lay towels to sit on and toss beach balls.
The concert is scheduled to start with acapella pop songs followed by folk solo and duet performances. After a brief intermission, the musical agenda continues with performances by MHS rock bands, the chordettes, solo singers, and the return of the Catch a Wave cover band. These various musical performances should appeal to all tastes.
Students are welcome to bring any family members that wish to attend; however small children may be bothered by the loud music following the intermission.
During intermission last year, the audience was introduced to Sadie Freifield. Sadie is a childhood cancer survivor who inspired the event, which coincided with her seventh birthday.
After personally thanking everyone who showed up, the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to her and she was given a gift basket which included movie tickets, popcorn, cotton candy, dots, a doll, and jump rope, putting a big grin on her face.
The Catch a Wave project in 2013 consisted of the English, visual arts, and technology departments building “Story Boxes” for the cancer center. The boxes were adorned with vivid and imaginative fairytale-themed paintings. The boxes had blank story books on top of them, intended for patients and visitors to write their own stories.
“The real support we needed to grow this project stems from the confidence and latitude expressed by our building administrators,” Mr. Hempel said. “We don’t ask for or a budget, just the time, and space required for busy people to collaborate. Last year, the joys of summer were palpable among the boardwalk and the concert itself.”