Friendly Competition Benefits Mather Hospital’s Palliative Medicine Program and The Lustgarten Foundation’s Pancreatic Research; View Memorial Parade of Boats at Harborfront Park Prior to Regatta
(Port Jefferson, NY) The Setauket Yacht Club’s fourth annual Village Cup Regatta will take place on Saturday, September 7, 2013. The friendly competition between John T. Mather Memorial Hospital and the Village of Port Jefferson raises funds for Mather’s Palliative Medicine Program and The Lustgarten Foundation, which funds pancreatic cancer research.
Actor and local resident Ralph Macchio will be at the event as Ambassador for the Regatta to help publicize the important work of the two programs it funds. Macchio’s wife, Phyllis, is a nurse practitioner in Mather’s Palliative Medicine Program.
The Regatta consists of Yacht Club-skippered sailboats divided into two teams representing Mather Hospital and the Village of Port Jefferson. Each boat takes one or more employees from the Hospital or Village as crew and races in one of three classes based on boat size. The races take place on Long Island Sound.
The festivities begin in Harborfront Park at 10 am with a 25-piece U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Band. Regatta t-shirts designed by a local artist and signed by Macchio will be available for purchase. The Memorial Parade of Boats begins at 11 am. All sailboats participating in the Regatta will pass by the park dressed in banners and nautical flags.
Following the Regatta, a celebratory reception and presentation of the Village Regatta Cup will take place in a restored 1917 shipyard building that now serves as the Port Jefferson Village Center. The Village won the first two Regattas and bad weather forced the cancellation of last year’s race.
To participate as a crew member on one of the boats, to make a donation or for further information about the regatta, please visit www.setauketyc.com/villagecup/ or www.facebook.com/VillageCupRegatta. Businesses, organizations and individuals are urged to support the Regatta by making monetary donations. Sponsorships are offered at various levels and individual contributions also are very welcome.
The Yacht Club initiated the Regatta primarily to call attention to and to support efforts to combat pancreatic cancer, which has claimed the lives of two of its members in recent years. The event also promotes a closer relationship between the Club and the Village in the wonderful maritime setting they share.
About Mather Hospital’s Palliative Medicine Program
The Palliative Medicine Program helps patients and their families manage serious or chronic illnesses, including pancreatic cancer. The goal of palliative medicine is to prevent and relieve suffering and provide the best quality of life for people living with the pain, complex symptoms and stresses of chronic illness. For more information, please visit www.matherhospital.org/palliative.
About The Lustgarten Foundation
Based in Bethpage, Long Island, The Lustgarten Foundation is the nation’s largest private foundation dedicated to funding pancreatic cancer research. And 100% of every dollar donated to the Foundation goes directly to research, thanks to Cablevision’s support. For more information, please visit: www.curePC.org.
