Page 4
The Behrend Beacon
THO
to find food for the dancers.
Behrend was there supporting their
dancers for a great cause.
Rizzo and Hovis didn't complain
much during the grueling process.
only when probed with 'how are you
feeling' did they utter a grievance.
Hovis remembered who she was
dancing for to keep her going.
"Seeing the kids was the best part
of THON. They are in such high
spirits and it's great to see that," said
Hovis.
Everyone was tired, everyone was
sore, but they all knew that they
were doing this exhausting task for
the kids. THON this year raised
$3.6 million for the Four Diamonds
Fund, which helps kids with cancer
and hopes to someday aide in
finding a cure.
The emotion involved in this 48-
hour long testament of caring came
to a head near the end. "The last
four hours really make you
understand THON," said Rizzo.
Early on in the program,
legendary Penn State football Coach
Joe Paterno apologized that he
would not be able to attend the
program and wished the dancers
luck, and thanked them for what
they were doing.
But around 3 p.m. an old man
started making his way through the
crowd without escort, shaking hands
and offering thanks. Paterno
decided to make an unexpected
The coach's words breathed a new
life back into the exhausted crowd.
He started by joking about how he
would be down there dancing if it
wasn't for his bad knee. He then
got serious and said just how
important this event is, and how
important student involvement is to
help the community.
Near the end of his impromptu
speech he said that when people say,
"We Are Penn State," this is what
they are really talking about. The
crowd went crazy and the feeling of
pain and exhaustion was
temporaril relieved.
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A little while after Paterno left,
there was a talent show done by the
kids with cancer whom the dancers
were supporting. By this time Rec
Hall was filled to capacity. An
estimated 4,000 students in Rec Hall
witnessed the end of THON. Of these
4,000, very few were able to keep dry
eyes as the kids sang songs like
Michelle Branch's "Everywhere,"
Billy Gillman's "One Voice," and the
Dixie Chicks' "Cowboy Take Me
Away."
After the thunderous applause for
the children died down, a video tribute
was put on the two big screens. The
tribute was to a group of brave Four
Diamonds children who lost their
battles with cancer. One of them was
a child who had been given an award
at the previous year's THON for his
courage. By the time this video had
ended, there was not a dry eye to be
seen.
Family hour was next, where many
of the Four Diamonds families came
onto the stage, and three gave short
speeches thanking the students for all
that they have done. One of the
speakers was a young girl who was
diagnosed when she was young and
beat cancer with the help of the Four
Diamonds Fund and THON.
After a little more dancing, the time
finally came for the dancers to sit
down and wait for awards to be
handed out. After the long list of
awards to schools had been read, the
total was announced. Penn State had
raised $3.6 million for the kids. All
of the pain and tiredness had paid off.
Behrend raised close to $lO,OOO of
this massive amount, by the time all
was said and done. Between the hard
work of the THON co-chairs Sutter
and Rizzo, and the determination
shown by Rizzo and Hovis, THON
was a big success for Behrend.
Hovis encourages as many people
as possible to go in years to come.
"It's hard to put into words what it is
like to be there, it is something that
everyone should experience because
once you do, you'll never be the same.
THON on!"
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Friday, February 28, 2003
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