Wildcat Mountain Hosts Dana Farber Families for the 16th Year in a Row!

Over the weekend of April 12th and 13th, Wildcat Mountain hosted the 16th Annual Yahoo Weekend for families with children under treatment for cancer or related illness at the Dana Farber Institute in Boston, MA. Pat Franchi, who owns Wildcat Mountain, and several of his immediate family members have carried on this tradition at Wildcat since 1987. The Franchis' compassion for these children and families arises out of their own family experience with cancer-related disease.

"Yahoo Weekend is intended to provide a worry-free weekend escape of fun and entertainment to children and families who are coping with life-threatening illnesses," notes Jennifer Walsh, Event Director at Wildcat Mountain. "The Franchis provide lodging at the Town & Country Motor Inn, food, and family entertainment for the entire weekend. And this year everyone was treated to a beautiful spring weekend out on the slopes of Wildcat. Everyone really seemed to enjoy a great weekend!"

The entire Wildcat staff looks forward to this weekend each year. A very special queen-size quilt was hand-stitched by "Nanna Ober" this year. There are hundreds of multi-colored stars on the inside of the quilt. "When she heard about this event, Nanna was inspired," says Rhonda Woods, a Wildcat employee of 15 years. "The stars represent the children, each of whom is truly a bright star." Nanna Ober is Rhonda's mother-in-law, and mother of Jake Woods, also a long-time Wildcat employee. The name of each family who participated in the weekend was entered into a drawing for the quilt, and Lisa Scherber of the Dana Farber Institute drew a name at Saturday night's dinner at the T&C, in Shelburne, NH.

Other activities over the weekend included sledding, snow-mobile rides, rides on the Quad chairlift, cake-decorating, and coconut bowling. The Greenville Wildlife Park also arrived with a petting zoo that included a seven week old Siberian tiger, two three week old lions, and some smaller animals.

Another great Yahoo! weekend at Wildcat Mountain! We hope you all had a wonderful time.

Click here for more weekend photos.