Pedal Partners lend a face, a story to PanMass
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

State Sen. Robert Antonioni, who will ride in the PanMass Challenge, is surrounded by his Pedal Partners Renee Scapparone-Hakala, Jack and Janet LaClair, Chuck Bangrazi, Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella, Joanne DiNardo, Louis Amadio and Liza Vallee. JOURNAL PHOTO/CAITLYN KELLEHER

LEOMINSTER - Renee Scapparone-Hakala was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in her head and neck area.

"Without Dana-Farber I wouldn't be here today," said Scapparone-Hakala.

And today she is here and lending her name and her story to Sen. Robert Antonioni (DLeominster).

Antonioni gathered his Pedal Partners in his district office on Thursday, June 26, to kickoff his fundraising for his 190-mile Pan- Mass Challenge Ride.

"It is people like you that keep us here today," Scapparone- Hakala said. "Twenty-years ago I wouldn't be here."

The 29th annual PMC will be held Aug. 1-3.

Each person attending has his or her own connection. They each have a reason, a memory or a fight that they want to remember and continue, and that is why eight people gathered around Antonioni on Thursday.

Another lending his story is Leominster resident Jack LaClair, who is waiting to see if some of the newest research in the fight to treat prostate cancer will work for him.

"It cures this type of cancer in half the time," said his wife Janet, a breast cancer survivor.

Jack LaClair said, "so far so good," but the cracking of his voice still shows the nervousness he lives with.

The couple is just two of the people that have donated their names and their stories to the cause.

"Janet was diagnosed 18 years ago and I went through it with her," Jack LaClair said. "Then I came down with prostrate cancer."

Janet LaClair said it is the research that makes the difference.

It's a statement that two-time breast cancer survivor Joanne DiNardo completely agrees with.

"I was 35 when I was diagnosed," she said. "I'd just gotten married when I got cancer."

In 1986, she participated in a research trial and was cured. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in her other breast 11 years ago and again participated in experimental research studies.

"Research is so critical," she said recalling the difference in the treatment and the side effects from one battle to the next.

As Antonioni prepares to ride the race for the 15th year, he is committed to the cause that gives 100 percent of the money raised to the research being done at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

He hopes to raise $15,000, which is $2,000 more than he raised last year. He has sent out over 8,000 letters to tell people he is riding this year.

"I don't think there is a family in the area that hasn't been touched in some way by cancer," he said.

The two-day ride offers a variety of paths to riders to pick from, ranging in length from 190 miles from Sturbridge to Provincetown, 180 miles from Sturbridge to Bourne to Wellesley, 163 miles from Wellesley to Bourne to Provincetown, 153 miles from Wellesley to Bourne and back.

There are also options for one-day riders that include the 110 miles from Sturbridge to Bourne, 84 miles from Wellesley to Bourne and the 47-mile Wellesley-to- Wellesley loop.

Antonioni's Pedal Partners include cancer survivor Louis Amadio, and cancer victims Angela Kornik Bangrazi and Joseph Mazzarella.

"How can we thank you enough," Amadio asked. "We'll beat it, we just have to keep researching."

"I have the easy part," Antonioni said of the 190-mile ride.

Mazzarella, who died in 2004, was represented by his son, Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella.

"He'll be on your handle bars as you ride," Mazzarella said to Antonioni.

Bangrazi, who died a year ago, was represented by her father, Chuck Bangrazi, and her best friend, Lisa Vallee. She lost the battle to Stage 4 breast cancer.

"She fought every step of the way," Chuck Bangrazi said. "The doctors at Dana-Farber did everything possible. … We've seen what Dana-Farber can do. We see what they do with the Jimmy Fund."

"We need more research," said Vallee, who couldn't keep the tears away. "We will continue on."

For more information on the ride or to make a donation, check out www.pmc.org.