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Our sincere thanks to everyone who helped with the 19h Annual Run for The Cove!  
  
There are many elements and details that go into our annual Run for The Cove. This year was especially challenging due to a change in venue due to the construction at Hammonasset. Our Race Co-chairs Bruce McIntyre and Buddy Hartmann began last fall with planning and preparation. Thank you both for taking ownership of this huge responsibility.
  
To our amazing Race Committee, Co-chairs Bruce McIntyre, Buddy Hartmann, Committee Members Doug Palmer, Carol Zebb, Mary Smeriglio, Sue Fappiano, Nancy Becker, Steve Gere, Ron Daniel and Alina Switaj for working out the logistics and details that need to be addressed and planned for well in advance and as the event unfolds. Great input and contributions (physically, intellectually and monetarily) this year by all involved! We are already planning for next year (and hope you will too!)
  
To Duo Dickinson and Nicole Desrosiers for helping with donated signs of the 5K and 2Mile Walk course for Race Day and directional signage to Lovers Lane - this was a huge savings and a great help for people to find their way to, and around the event!
  
To our Site Directors Barbara Giangreco, Michelle Dailey, Jaimie Miller, Sarah Schmidt, Cathy Fisher, Jennifer Barrett and Valerie Cordiano thank you all for connecting the Cove families to the event, your contributions and for helping out on race day. (We missed you on Sunday this year Valerie, the only year you have missed, but we were thinking of you!)
           
To our Day of Race volunteers - thank you all for your dedication and ability to handle your stations in such a professional manner.
  
To our cashiers Kara Williams, Sue Fappiano, Pat Decesare, Donna Nickdow, Dorry Palmer, Jessica Palmer, Morgan Lowrey, Paula King, and Pat Decesare, thank you for being so organized and on-point, it is a complicated position but our reconciliation went very smoothly with your help - saving us hours of added work at the office, even with the Cove bracelets sales added in this year!
  
Pre-Registration ran smoothly with the help of Kathi Croce, Jessy Reisman, Karlyn Carlson, Laurin Peck, Stephanie Finer, Jan-Michel Gere and Kathleen Smith. The new Memory Board and Memory Stickers were overseen by Michelle Dailey, Martha Wieler and Courtney Barnes. Registration forms brought Karen Carney, Marrie Ayub and Jennifer Barrett together for the event. Kudos!
  
To Jennifer Houghton (great to see your smiling face returning!)and Hillary Houghton along with Mitchell, Henry and Lydia Yaggi, thank you for handling the Bibs, Bib Runners to the Timer and Finish line details. Great job done by all!
  
To our Team T-Shirts Volunteers - Carmel Limoncelli, Jim Puska, Elijah Demb thank you for helping out and thinning out the Pre Reg lines this year - it went much more smoothly.
  
To all of our T-shirt distribution volunteers: Ryan Palmer, Pam Nelson, Jessica Warner, Mary Ellen Robeson, Joshua Robeson, and Arianna, Desmond, Desi and Breana King as well as the great ABC House teens Jordan Rivera, Joshua Cabral, Malachi Dixon-Powell and Delvante Hutton and Madison Interact Club teens who helped out, we asked you all to stay focused and you did to the very end, thanks so much.
  
With a new course for our 5K and Walk, it was critical this year to have MANY more Walk and Race Marshalls at this location for the safety and organization of participants. Thanks so much for this important task! It went very well thanks to everyone being on point! 5K Race Marshalls, Walk Marshalls: Doug Palmer, Paul Lirot (who also handled parking), Alina Switaj, Patty Meskers, Clark Denslow, Naomi Dempsey, Mary Smeriglio and Howie West, Trish Black, and Guilford Interact Volunteers Chloe Charbonneau, Skylar Santa Barbara, Alyssa DeMino, Matthew Moore, Liz Abernathy, Noah Kosh, Mariam Kisk, Andre Kish, Sofia Migani, Catherine Hommel, Kiana Vallo, Course Drop Off: Colleen Kinyon, Eric Brown, John Turgeon, Kevin Kearney and Kevin Thomas. The water stop for our thirsty 5K runners was again an oasis hosted by Peter Becker and Madison Interact volunteers.
  
A BIG thank you to the Madison Jaycees for your loan of equipment and feather banners for the Race and to Allison Pelliccio for time spent working out logistics with Bruce of the new course.
  
Renee McIntyre thank you for your inspiring words during the pre-race moment, I know it touched many hearts and brought the true spirit of the race into focus.
  
We never get a full picture of the event until we see the shots taken by our volunteer photographers - thank you Karen Milano, Sandy Prisloe, Anne Gosain and Adam Hornik for your amazing shots this year. What a beautiful day to capture the fall colors and neon running gear! We have posted and shared some of them on The Cove's Facebook feed: Facebook/covect and on our race page www.covect.org/race (sidebar button 2016 race photos.)
  
To Nancy Becker, Martha Hogan and Jessica Warner thanks for checking in and orienting volunteers. Thank you to the Interact Advisors who brought their volunteers: Alexandra Miele from Madison Interact and Laura Samperi from the Guilford Interact Club - great job by both groups - please extend our gratitude to your kids!
  
To Craig Patla and CT Water - thank you for bringing out the water and refillable bottles - they were a big hit with many families and saved us quite a bit on water.
  
Everyone's favorite part of the event - the Fun Run with support from Missy Hartmann and Patti Peoples (we are so happy to see you back in Connecticut Patti) along with Interact Club Volunteers. Thank you for letting the kids' light shine!
  
The Kid's Activity Tent was a fun addition thanks to Jason Galloway and his children along with Dorothy Reither, Julia Peterson and Madison Interact Club Volunteers. Bruce Freeman's crew from Shoreline Pediatrics chipped in with giveaways of helium balloons and bags for the kids as well!
  
To the Food Tent - Great job by Ellen Perdue, Jennifer Paige, Gerry and Walter Pieper and Susannah Goetsch. The coffee and bagels arrived bright and early again thanks to Simon Etzel.
  
A million thanks to Cathy Fisher, Heidi Despores, Anja Grund and Grace Smith for helping out in the Donation Tent - this was a bit of a trial by fire this year, due to incentives and timing, but you handled it well!
  
Kevin Kearney and Sarah Schmidt stepped in with announcements and awards along with Barbara Giangreco and Bruce McIntyre. We had more people than ever stay for the awards this year.
  
Thanks to Maryanne Daniel the gift of massage to our runners - we know it was truly needed and appreciated.
  
To Cove Coordinating Staff Paula King and Linda Brogan and Office Volunteers Carol Zebb and Dorothy Riether thank you for burning the midnight oil and for the hundreds of hours of phone calls and emails, tracking, data input, preparation, schlepping, organizing and reorganizing after the event - you are angels all.
  
And finally a big beautiful thank you to our hardworking Set-up and Clean-Up crews on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for showing up and staging the event so that we were prepared on race day as well as helping out after the event to leave the Fairgrounds in pristine condition. The entire Race Committee with a special shout out to Bruce McIntyre, Steve Gere and Doug Palmer who ran around town for weeks setting up and taking down signs and banners. Thank you for the help from Renee McIntyre, Eric Brown, Kevin Kearney, Simon Etzel, John Turgeon, Jason Galloway and his children, Kevin Thomas, The King Family (Desmond, Paula, Desi, Arianna, Breana), Martha Hogan, David Sawyer, Jeff Cody, Buddy and Chris Hartmann and all who pitched in lifting tables, setting up signs and stations, hammering posts for feather banners, assembling and disassembling, moving items to storage and more - thank you. Your efforts probably resulted in more than a few sore muscles on Monday morning. A special thank you to Peter Schreck for donating a brand new post hole auger to The Cove so that we will always be able to set up the banners in advance!
  
  
I think the new moto for The Cove Volunteerism and all things Cove
should be the ages old quote from  Marcus Tullius Cicero:
"Non nobis solum nati sumus"  
(Not for ourselves alone are we born.)
  
Thank you all for ensuring that we continue to support the many children and families that we serve.  We cannot do it without your generosity of spirit and kindness of heart.
  
Warm regards,
Mary Andersen
Executive Director 
  




The Cove Center for Grieving Children
"...providing hope and healing for grieving children."