Volunteers of the American Cancer Society Telethon of Eastern Pennsylvania gathered Sunday night for the annual Cancer Fighters’ Dinner and created a new award to memorialize one of the longest volunteers.

Carl “Bud” Wychulis, musician for 40 years of telethons, died Sept. 25, 2021, after a several year battle with cancer.

The award, in his memory, was presented to the only other person who has been on all telethons, Danny Farole of Nesquehoning.

Joe Krushinsky, telethon chairman, said Wychulis put up a courageous front at the telethon last August. “When it was time to be on the air, he got up there, smiled and looked squarely in the camera and did what needed to be done.”

But offstage he was wrapped in a blanket, shivering. He left early, just before the telethon ended, but Krushinsky said, “The thing Bud wants us to do is to keep going.”

This year the telethon will be April 9 and 10 at Penn’s Peak. “We’ll spend the weekend together and do the best we can,” Krushinsky told volunteers gathered at Capriotti’s Catering in McAdoo.

Presenting the award to Farole, Krushinsky said the award will be presented each year to people who embody the fighting spirit. Each year a name will be added to the plaque.

Farole, who started helping with the telethon after his mother died of cancer in 1976, said, “You don’t know the magnitude of the love I had for Buddy Wychulis. He was a musician’s musician. He had so much talent.”

Farole lost his wife, Margaret, on Sept. 21, just days before Wychulis died. When his wife was admitted to the hospital, he said the first flowers that arrived were from Buddy.

He encouraged volunteers to keep fighting, and to love one another.

Wychulis’ daughter, Cheryl Martuscelli, said her dad could usually fix everything, but “one thing he couldn’t fix was cancer.”

She said Wychulis, “always the entertainer, on and off the stage,” was determined to fight cancer.

Other awards

Krushinsky also presented the Volunteer Extreme Award to Kathy Lengyel of Nesquehoning, who stepped up to keep the office going and to help plan the last two telethons during the pandemic. “When COVID hit, a lot of people said this event is not going to happen,” Krushinsky said. “Kathy didn’t know what we were trying to do couldn’t be done.”

Lengyel thanked all the volunteers and stressed the need for more people to keep fundraisers going, from selling daffodils to tickets to the basket auction.

“We need to kick out cancer,” she said.

Lengyel thanked everyone who helped her when she was diagnosed with cancer, especially those who supplied hugs. “When you know someone who’s been diagnosed with cancer, give them a hug. It means so much.”

The Robert E. Ames Cancer Fighter Award was presented to Kevin and Dee Zuercher, owners of the Halftime Bar and Grill, who took over the annual ZooStock Labor Day Concert. The event became personal quickly when his mother, Margaret, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died Dec. 12, 2021. Recently, Dee’s brother was lost to cancer.

The James J. Rhoades award, named after the late senator, was given to the Panther Valley National Honor Society, who raised $1,500 by selling daffodils.

The Lansford Legion received the Patricia A. Haughton Award, named after the late executive director of the Carbon-Tamaqua Unit of the American Cancer Society. Krushinsky said the group helps with selling tickets for the basket raffle, Zoostock and more. The designated representatives of the Legion were not able to attend to receive the award because of an illness in the family.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, presented citations from the House and Senate, on behalf of his district and state Rep. Jerry Knowles and state Sen. John Yudichak.

Coming up

Krushinsky announced the charity basket raffle and auction will be held Sunday in the Tamaqua High School gym, with more than 100 baskets, a bake sale, drawings, big prizes and entertainment. The fundraiser in advance of the telethon will include a shopping preview from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Sunday and people can browse until 2:30 p.m.

The telethon will be broadcast from noon to midnight April 9 and 10 from Penn’s Peak, with entertainment, a memorial to Wychulis and a tribute to cancer survivors. On April 10, Courage Awards will be presented to: Lisa Trubilla, breast cancer patient and former Panther Valley volleyball coach and diving coach and assistant swim coach at Tamaqua High School; McCoy Rapa, 7, of Schnecksville, daughter of Matthew Rapa and Laura Shiffer-Rapa, who has just completed treatment for leukemia; Deborah Hatmaker, who works in human resources at Hometown Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, who is undergoing treatment for colon cancer; and Kevin Kromer of Walnutport, who has battled esophageal cancer.

For more information, visit www.cancertelethon.org.