15th annual Joy to be Bald cancer walk-a-thon and bake-off fundraiser

The 15th annual ‘Joy to be Bald’ will benefit Todd Greeley and Terry Bradshaw, both of whom have been battling colon cancer since 2022.

Joy to be Bald is an annual cancer fundraiser held in honor of Joy Mehuren. Joy’s lifelong friend, Lori Mayer, decided to hold a benefit for Joy at her restaurant in Liberty in 2010. Soliciting donations from her Café’s patrons, in a testament to how much both women were loved by their community, it didn’t take long for Mayer to raise a sizeable sum. Overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support at the event, Mehuren made Mayer promise to continue the event annually to support others who battled the dreaded disease. As they say… “The rest is history. “

Todd began his cancer journey in July of 2022. A trip to the emergency room and a flurry of hospital visits within a matter of days resulted in a colon cancer diagnosis, subsequent surgery, and four months of chemotherapy treatments to treat cancerous spots on his liver. In February of 2023, he traveled to Dana Farber Cancer Institute and met with a capable doctor who scheduled a liver sectioning surgery for May. The nearly four-hour surgery removed all cancer from several spots in his liver. A month later Todd was told there was no evidence of cancer in his body. In August, he was told that the cancer was back and in his two remaining lymph nodes in his abdomen, requiring more chemotherapy. Todd completed treatment number forty about a month ago and last week started on a path involving immunotherapy. This has posed its own set of challenges, and Todd has risen to meet them.

Terry’s “adventure with cancer”, as he put it, also began in 2022 when he received a stage 4 colorectal cancer diagnosis with metastasis to the pelvis and a lymph node. The subsequent chemotherapy resulted in horrible side effects and was followed by 28 rounds of colorectal X-Ray irradiation in February. The lymph node tumor and the bone tumor were, though other tumors have remained active. There is now a new liver tumor and the colorectal tumor is ever so slightly growing again. There are still treatment opportunities available, so Terry will be traveling to Dana Farber in Boston on Oct. 16 and possibly New York City for a histotripsy procedure, if accepted. Terry continues to try to work when he is able and has a podcast that discusses many topics, including cancer care.

The benefit will be held on Saturday, Oct. 12 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 pm, beginning with the annual Walk-A-Thon at 11 a.m. at the Walker School, Route 220, Liberty, and ending at the Liberty Fire Department, followed by festivities at the Lake St. George Brewery on the corner of Marshall Shore Road, Liberty and Route 3 at 12:30 p.m. There will be a ‘Chowder, Chili, Cornbread, and Whoopie Pie Bake Off’ judged by attendees, with a Memory Basket Raffle and Head Shaving wrapping things up between 2 and 3:30 p.m.

The success and sustainability of Joy to Be Bald can be attributed to the hard work of the organizers and the desire of the past recipients to pay it forward and help someone else. Mayer’s husband, Eddie, and grandson Lincoln will be shaving their heads for the cause. We’d love for you to come join in the fun!

To sponsor, donate raffle items, or join the head shaving or walk-a-thon, please contact Lori’s Café at 207-589-4141. Registration forms are available at Totman’s Enterprises, Belmont, or Lori’s Café.

You can find details on the competition, Walk-a-Thon pledge forms and follow the event on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/joytobebald .