LIMESTONE, Maine — Not since the heyday of the Loring Air Force Base has the gym of the Limestone Community School been so packed; over 700 people wearing golden bling to commemorate the constant fight against childhood cancer filled the stands to capacity on Dec. 15 to cheer on the Limestone eagleZ. Though the event was inspired by Limestone’s student athlete Zach Cote and his courageous triumph over the disease, spectators of the “It’s All About the Bling” event celebrated everyone who’d ever fought and won the battle against cancer, including their very own tri-sport varsity star Zach who, as of Dec. 15, has been officially cancer free for one year.
Despite losing half his leg to cancer, Zach hasn’t lost a step on either the court or the field and his brave defiance of childhood cancer has been an inspiration to his teammates, classmates and throughout the community.
“He’s the strongest kid you’ll ever meet,” said teammate Josh Forsman, a senior at LCS.
“He’s was the first kid in the school with cancer and he fought through it as hard as he could,” said senior Arron St. Pierre, another teammate. “His amputation was on Dec. 15, 2009 and he still played baseball that spring; he worked hard so that he could still pay and showed everybody that he didn’t give up. He played as hard as he would have regularly and he never stopped.”
Staff and faculty at the school, led by Jennifer Poitras and Kenneth Hixon, wanted to coordinate an event worthy of commemorating his one-year-cancer-free anniversary, but Zach was more interested in having others in the community who’ve been victorious in their own battles against cancer and wanted to wear either a uniform patch or a ribbon in honor of cancer survivors everywhere.
Because the team wasn’t permitted to attach either ornamentation to their uniforms, Poitras and Hixon arranged for brand new gold uniforms to be made for the varsity athletes to wear during the Dec. 15 game instead. After the jerseys were ordered, Poitras and Hixon thought up more survivor-honoring plans and the event seemingly took on a life of its own. As donations poured in from all over the state (and some donations traveling cross-country) all eyes looked to the small school where one student‘s courage brought a community together in a survivor celebration — and that’s not hyperbole.
“Usually when something happens at the school for the Elks Club or the Student Council, there are just certain people who participate, but for this event, you had the whole school and the whole community get together in support of this thing and they all really got behind it. You could see that on game night with everybody being there,” St. Pierre said.
One truly could see it in the stands, in the hallways, waiting in line for concessions — everyone was wearing colors representing survivor gold in some form or fashion, with many so enthusiastically supporting the cause they took ornamentation quite seriously and borrowed some decorations off their Christmas trees. Even the opposing basketball team’s mascot, the Easton Bear, was himself wearing an “It’s All About the Bling” T-shirt and accessorized with enough golden garland to decorate a window.
“‘It’s All About the Bling’ started with Zach and then branched out into the community,” said Forsman. His grandmother, Laura Smith, was one of many survivors honored for their determination and bravery during the Dec. 15 festivities.
“And just like Zach, she’s been a big inspiration to the family,” he said. “She never gave up and kept on with her treatment and she fought it off, just like Zach did.”
According to Poitras, that’s one of the reasons why the event chose the title “It’s All About the Bling.”
“We’re celebrating survivors, we’re not mourning a cancer diagnosis because they’re not mourning,” she explained.
Every survivor’s story has touched the lives of those around him or her, and Zach’s story is no different.
“We need to honor his courage and his spirit and celebrate it the same way that he is celebrating his life,” Poitras added. “Within our own community, he’s touched hundreds and hundreds of lives either through the close contact he has with his friends or the quiet example that he shows in his everyday life just by being Zach.”
“But then you look at his story on ESPN and the fact that he donated his amputated leg to cancer research, I can’t estimate the number of lives that his choices could impact,” Poitras said, “I’m so proud to know him.”
Zach has became somewhat of an overnight celebrity — he’s been written about on the ESPNrising Web site, interviewed by radio and television crews, ESPN magazine personnel, and staff of the Bangor Daily News (and the Aroostook Republican, too). It’s been quite a media blitz for the high school junior who’s remained remarkably modest through the whole celebration.
“It’s not a bad thing that they’ve wanted to know [about his dealings with childhood cancer], but it’s kind of a lot more relaxing now that it’s done,” Zach said.
His favorite part about the event “was just getting to wear those jerseys,” and his friends tell him how cool it was to be able to play ball in that type of setting.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the stands packed that much in a long time,” he said.
Forsman used to live in Memphis, Tenn. and playing in front of such a large crowd wasn’t new to him, but he was still pretty pumped up when the game started.
“It was amazing — not only running out of the tunnel and seeing all the fans, but because there were so many fans we weren’t used to,” he explained. “There were fans from Easton and some were wearing their Easton blue, but you had some dressed up in yellow to go along with the whole bling thing.”
Before the game, Easton players got together and signed a golden basketball to give Zach and decorated their warm-ups with a golden “Z” to honor their competitor. But what really had fans impressed was the attire of Easton’s mascot dressed to the nines in golden attire wearing an “It’s All About the Bling” T-shirt and swirled with golden garland.
“To see the mascot dressed like that was so touching,” Poitras said. “They could honor this event without giving up their team spirit — it shows the true heart of the Easton team.”
Assistant Principal and Athletic Director of the Limestone Community School Larry Worchester thanked the Easton team for their support of the event.
“I was a little surprised when they came out pre-game and each gave Zach’s mom a flower and a hug; I didn’t expect that,” he said. “They were outstanding.”
Easton blue, Caribou maroon, Fort Fairfield red — everyone was bling yellow and that’s one of the reasons why Worchester thinks that this part of northern Maine is such a great place to live.
“Being such a small community and how everything played out, I don’t know that turnout would have happened like this in a bigger city,” he said. “This is one instance that the people around us all came together and it’s really a neat thing — that sense of community where everyone helps each other out. I don’t know if you’d find that anywhere else.”
Worchester said that even when the teams travel away to play in large tournaments, they’re always pulling for each other, and on a night like Dec. 15, he really appreciated how poignant community camaraderie is in The County.
It’s estimated that 700 to 750 attended the event, raising a grand total of $4,789.26 for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Team eagleZ, and Poitras feels that the funds raised speak volumes about community spirit and support.
“I don’t know how else you could explain almost $5,000 in proceeds during a recession, right before Christmas in such a small community,” she said.
But for a modest highschooler who never intended on changing the community, Zach has impacted his classmates by being a silent leader.
“He’s such a strong young man that seeing the way he handled himself was inspirational for all of us,” Worchester said. He recalled a conversation he had with a couple of students not too long ago. “After watching Zach go through everything, some of the kids thought, ‘geeze, if I have a sprained ankle, I think I’m going to play through it.”
“If you roll your ankle, it’s not as bad as losing your leg,” said St. Pierre. “It’s more like ‘suck it up and take it like a man,’ and that’s basically what Zach did; he took it as strong as anyone could and it’s given people inspiration.”
