Cover On The
Locals Host 2nd Annua
By Andrea Shiell Staff Writer
L
ocals from both sides of the Thomas Johnson Bridge will be adding a cause to their September 11 plans as they host the 2nd Annual Solomons Island Bar Crawl, sponsored by the Hurricane Alley Alumni Association, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., this year raising money for their friend PJ Aldridge, who has been battling Stage IV lung cancer. Jodi Aldridge, 38, who is married to PJ’s cousin Lewie, said she had known PJ for several years before he was diagnosed in February, 2010, and the news came as a shock to the family, who had helped host a bar crawl on Solomons Island for a similar cause this time last year. “My husband owned a bar called Hurricane Alley on Solomons Island … and after they closed, in the last year or so, people had been saying ‘we should all get together and have a Hurricane Alley reunion, it would be so much fun’ … and at the same time, last year would have been his 25th high school reunion, and nobody had planned a reunion.” That’s when the Aldridge’s plan for a bar crawl came into being, said Jodi, going on to explain that last year’s crawl had covered not only a reunion function with proceeds going to charity, but served also as a last boost to local businesses before their normal season ended. “We both have been here a really long time, and we also know too that because of the economy that people are really struggling, especially businesses … so we made it the last weekend the Tiki Bar was open, the reason being that it’s right before the off-season, so we figured it would be a really great
way to help some of the local businesses.” Jodi said their group sold about $100 t-shirts for last year’s bar crawl, which included both walking non-drinkers and crawling drinkers side by side, and PJ had marched up and down Solomons Island without showing any signs of illness. The crawl raised $575 for the American Cancer Society, but in what Lewie Aldridge described as an “ironic twist” of fate, PJ
was diagnosed just months later. “He came here for the bar crawl in October, and he was fine at that time, but in February he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer, so it was very unexpected, and so the whole family and his friends really rallied around him,” said Jodi, “but he really has a long battle ahead of him, so rather than wallow in self-pity and that kind of stuff … he decided he wanted to help other people,” starting the PJ Aldridge Foundation with the help of friends to raise money for cancer research. Vera Taylor, a long-time friend of PJ’s, said that once PJ had been diagnosed, it didn’t take long for him to start thinking about cancer research and how he might help raise awareness, and Vera offered to help him research what organizations were best to donate to. “I was appalled at how little money goes to lung cancer research,” she said. “It’s the number one cancer diagnosed in the United States, and around the world, but it gets the least amount of funding … people out there really have to push for research and awareness, and demand that more go into it.” The PJ Aldridge Foundation will be putting as much as they can into the September 11th fundraiser, and they are also sponsoring National PJ Week, October 3-10, during which donations will go to PJ’s favorite research organizations (including the National Lung Cancer Partnership and the University of Maryland), all feeding into the goal of raising $1 million. “The goal really is to raise a million dollars, and when you’re dealing with that kind of money you need to be an actual foundation and not just somebody out there collecting cash,” said Jodi, explaining that a portion of the proceeds from this year’s event will also go to local chapters of the American From left is Will Esham, Brittany Weigle, Rico Liberto, Julie Beach, Pj Aldridge, Tammy Celebula, Blaine Champlin , Shannon Smith, Buddy Trola and Rob Taylor. Kneeling is Vera Taylor and Craig Casey. Photos by Jamie Koslow
12
Thursday, August-2010
Ca
pj
fol
Oc ho ide
th