Paying it forward

During last weekend’s three-day “carnival of caring” - Heroes for a Cure - many hundreds of families, friends, and fun seekers crowded the grounds of Museum Village to enjoy a festive occasion for a serious purpose.

The village, usually a showplace for the region’s past, became a vital venue to address an all-too-present problem for many modern families - cancer, and in particular, childhood cancer.

The annual event has been coordinated for the last six years by the Scancarello family of Monroe, whose son Anthony battled his leukemia into remission with the love and support of his family and a little help from Make-A-Wish of the Hudson Valley - the organization benefiting from the monies raised.

According to Sal Scancarello, in January, the organizing committee began recruiting vendors, rides, food trucks and other carnival staples - face painting, clowns, a petting zoo and musical entertainment.

Museum Village took on the look of a traveling circus.

And while it was too early to know exactly how much money was raised, Scancarello is confident that thousands of dollars will be donated to Make-A-Wish.

Among those with a personal reason for supporting this effort was Make-A-Wish volunteer Joanne Trivero, whose son Andrew battled osteosarcoma and lost part of a leg to the disease when he was 15.

Now 37 and cancer free, his Make-A-Wish experience was a key factor in his recovery, both physically and psychologically.

Another family affected by pediatric cancer Kate Lynn and Jesse Beyea brought their 18-month old son Thomas Morgan to the fair to enjoy the rides, the music and the farm animals.

Thomas was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and received treatment at Maria Ferrari children’s hospital and Sloan-Kettering, losing a kidney in the process but progressing to his current cancer-free state.

Kate Lynn Beyea explained why she supports events like this heroes carnival: “Since we are still new to this, we wanted to help raise awareness and provide support to other families.

“We were so incredibly fortunate to have so much love and support from friends, family, and strangers," Beyea added. "We want other families to have those advantages as well.”