Recently, I received press releases about three Southborough residents/natives involved in noteworthy performances/fundraisers. I’m rounding them up.
Southborough Native in “Star-Studded Skating Exhibition” on December 4th – The Skating Club of Boston:
The Skating Club of Boston, the third oldest skating club in the United States, will celebrate the grand opening of their brand new, best-in-class skating facility in Norwood, MA on Saturday, December 4th at 6:00 pm with a star-studded skating exhibition event in their Tenley E. Albright Performance Center.
Southborough native Caroline Depietri will be one of several featured skaters at the event. Depietri earned a spot in the program by being one of the top fundraisers for the Ska8 to Elimin8 cancer fundraiser to benefit Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Mass General Brigham. Her reason for fundraising, in honor of her friend and her grandmother, can be found on her page: https://fundraise.scottcares.org/Boston/carolinedepietri
This special event will be the first full-capacity ticketed skating show in Boston since 2019 and will be the largest gathering of figure skating Olympians and U.S. champions outside the Olympics itself. The event will be hosted by Scott Hamilton, with proceeds benefiting the CARES Foundation, Mass General Brigham and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
For details and tickets, click here.
Resident will be marching in the Rose Parade – Saluting America’s Band Directors:
A Southborough resident who works in a neighboring town has been selected as one of five band directors representing Massachusetts a month from today in the New Years’ Day Rose Parade:
Angie Lee Crockwell, band director for Marlborough High School in Marlborough, MA, and a resident of Southborough, MA, will join band directors from across the country on January 1 in the annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses® Rose Parade.
A custom-designed animated float will lead a “marching band of band directors” up to 300 strong from across the country. . .
The parade entry will convey the theme, “We teach music. We teach life.” The extraordinary dedication and accomplishments of band directors are well known to their students, to parents and to school teachers and administrators. No matter where they teach and work—public and private schools, colleges and universities, the military, community bands—dedicated music educators and leaders work long hours to not only teach and direct music, but to teach life itself. Students’ lives in particular are positively changed by a motivational leader who taught, inspired and mentored them.
Ms. Crockwell has been teaching for over 24 years. Currently she is the Concert Band and Orchestra director and is the Assistant Marching Band Director at Marlborough High School. Prior to Marlborough, she taught at Grafton Public Schools as an elementary band director. Angie received her bachelors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was actively involved with the Minuteman Marching Band, under the direction of the late George N. Parks. It was Mr. Parks that inspired her to love marching band and to become a music educator. Ms. Crockwell is a clarinet and saxophone player, but she is excited to be marching in the Rose Parade as a clarinet player.
For more information on the project and its sponsor, The Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation, click here.
Cancer survivor runs NYC Marathon in support of American Cancer Society– American Cancer Society:
In 2019, I wrote about Southborough’s Michael Saltis running to raise money for cancer research. That year, he supported Dana Farber.
This year, he ran in NYC to raise money for the cause as part of an American Cancer Society team. I missed sharing the news prior to the November 7th race. But it’s not too late to donate to the ACS fundraiser in his name.
The charity shared the following statement from Saltis days before the race:
In April 2018, I received the news that I was officially in remission following a diagnosis of Stage IIA Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and 6 months of bi-weekly chemotherapy treatments. With the amazing support of my wife, my family and friends – I had done it, beat cancer! I set out on a mission to give back. I joined the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team, raised money for the organization that saved my life and on April 15, 2019, I completed the 123rd Boston Marathon! I was hooked. The running, the support, the team, everything about the experience was amazing and I wanted to continue to help raise money and awareness for cancer! I signed up and ran the NYC Marathon in November 2019 for the American Cancer Society. Again, the experience was intoxicating!… It means so much to me and will help fight cancer!!” – Michael Saltis of Southborough, MA
The American Cancer Society representative wrote:
Saltis is one of 261 American Cancer Society DetermiNation athletes from across the U.S. who will participate in the 50th TCS New York City Marathon in support of American Cancer Society’s life-saving mission. They are expected to collect more than $1.1 million in donations this year alone to help the Society fund and conduct breakthrough research and give cancer patients and their families the resources they need like free rides to chemo, free places to stay near hospitals, and a live 24/7 helpline for answers and support. Learn more about this year’s DetermiNation New York City Marathon athletes [click here].
