September Newsletter!

Welcome to the SEPTEMBER 2025 edition of our newsletter. Read on for some great information about our crew and upcoming events!!!

Leaving cancer behind one stroke at a time!

Our Mission: ROCCREW is committed to serving the physical and emotional needs of all cancer survivors. Through our shared rowing experience, we find a means to maintain wellness for our bodies, and courage and determination for our spirit.

We find healing on the water through the power of our commitment, and we hope to provide inspiration to all of those who face the challenges of cancer.

We are supporting people who have faced cancer or are currently under treatment by providing physical conditioning, rehabilitation, education, and camaraderie.

Come row with us!!!

Everyone is welcome to row with us! We are a crew of cancer survivors and supporters dedicated to fueling our bodies and spirits while sharing a rowing experience. Our three boats are housed at the Genesee Waterways Center (GWC) at 149 Elmwood Avenue.

There is much to be said for the relationships you make with your Learn to Row class, and the camaraderie you share with all of our fellow survivors and supporters once you join the crew.

If you are interested in rowing with us, we will have another Learn to Row class beginning October 21st. This gives you an opportunity to learn important techniques, skills, and build your strength so you are ready to row as a crew when you enter the boat. After four sessions in the tanks at Pittsford Indoor Rowing Center, you will be ready to join us for our winter workout program if you choose, and be comfortable and ready to join the crew on the water for the regular season in the spring! During the regular season (May - October) rowers can choose to row one day a week, twice, or if ready to start preparing for regattas, up to three times each week.

Click below to receive more information about our next Learn to Row Session!

Learn to Row Interest Form

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Our 13th ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT SCRAMBLE IS IN THE BOOKS!!!

We would like to thank our sponsors, donors, golfers and volunteers for participating in our Annual Golf Tournament! We appreciate all of your support in helping us keep our boats maintained and available for our rowers to continue to find healing on the water!

ROCCREW ON THE WATER!!!

26K Amazing Row!!!!!

Six of our rowers joined with members of the Genesee Waterways Club to fill an 8 man boat for the recent 26K Amazing Row sponsored by the Rochester Boat Club. These amazing people either shared a seat trading off after 13K or rowed the entire 26K from the Rochester Boat Club boathouse near Genesee Valley Park to the Pittsford Indoor Water Tanks, and finally finishing in Fairport. Wow! Congratulations Abby, Sue, Yvonne, Kathy, Stephanie and Michele B., and thank you for supporting our fellow rowers at the Rochester Boat Club!

ROCCREW at the Red Wings

While many of us were in the stands enjoying the Red Wings game and all the excitement at the Wilmont Cancer Center's Survivor Night in July, a few of our dedicated rowers helped distribute information about ROCCREW. We hope that many of you reading this newsletter were able to learn more about us and will consider supporting us in the boats or on the shore in the near future! (p.s. we have and awesome Trivia Night coming up soon that we would love for you to all participate in!)

Did you know?

Our schedulers and coaches take our health and safety seriously! In addition to the more obvious reasons to cancel that include lightning in the area, heavy rain, and high flow rate of the river, August presented to us another factor that had to be considered. Air quality! Twice the air quality index exceeded 100, putting us into a zone considered "unhealthy for sensitive groups". As we are a group of rowers of all abilities and in various stages of recovery, the decision was made to cancel our row for those days. While we are always disappointed when we can't get out on the water, we appreciate that our leaders are always considering our health and safety as a crew.

Check out this offering through the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester that features one of our own!!! Featured in the October series of "Tools for the Journey" webinar series, you can sign up for Julian Parkhurst's webinar directly through their website at bccr.org.

Meet our crew!

This month we introduce you to two more of our awesome crew members!

Pam joined ROCCREW after seeing a pamphlet in her oncology office and thought it was something she would enjoy. Now with ROCCREW for fifteen years, she is truly one of our experienced veterans. She has even been part of our crew that has rowed at the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta held on the Charles River in Boston. Rowing on the river in the evenings, the exercise it offers, and the focus it takes is her favorite part of rowing, but to be around those that can understand what each of us have been through and the support the team members give to each other is also one of her greatest joys as part of this team. One of Pam’s favorite memories is when she flipped an eight boat. (Please note: flipping boats is very uncommon! Be sure to ask Pam more about that story when you see her!)

Other team members enjoy rowing with Pam because of her consistent and steady pacing.

When not on the water, Pam is a structural heart nurse coordinator and enjoys traveling often with her sixteen year old son (a young man already on his third passport!), this summer skipping a few rowing nights to be able to enjoy a trip to Greece and Bermuda.

What advice would she give to people interested in starting to row? “Give it a try!”

It is hard to believe that our Programming Chair Kathy has only been rowing with ROCCREW for five years. Her leadership and dedication to our crew is impressive! She first learned about us through the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester (BCCR), and claims that it is now the most fun she has ever had exercising. She also loves the people, the water, and the mission. Her most recent goal is to get back on the water after her recent knee injury.

Kathy was one of the rowers who represented us at the 2024 Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA. It is an event she will never forget and we are proud to have her as part of the crew that rowed in a special “Survivors Row” event intended to showcase the strength and resilience of cancer survivors.

When not on the water, Kathy enjoys spending time with her husband and two fabulous adult children. Her family is her center and keeps her grounded. She also works part-time and bakes bread every week, also cooking while experimenting with new flavors. Be sure to ask her about her most recent trip to Ireland with her husband and keep your fingers crossed for some more of her great sweets to show up at the boathouse after a good rowing evening. (hint…hint Kathy…)

What advice does Kathy have for people interested in starting to row? “You can do this! You do not need to be athletic, just bring your desire to do something different and give yourself a lot of grace as you learn.”