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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Gazebos to aid cancer fight

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAILUA — A cancer survivor and his Kane'ohe Yacht Club fishing buddies will build two gazebos to auction for the American Cancer Society Windward Unit, hoping to surpass the $25,000 they earned for the organization two years ago.

A group of friends from the Kane'ohe Yacht Club are building two gazebos that will be auctioned off July 9 to 10 at Kailua Beach Park to raise money for the American Cancer Society Windward Unit. The group received $9,800 worth of donated material for the project.

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Charles Schmucker and 10 friends, most with building and contracting experience, set to work April 2 in Waimanalo, measuring, hammering and assembling a 12-foot-by-12-foot by 12-foot five-sided, all-wood gazebo.

The plan is to finish the project so it can appear in the Kailua Fourth of July Parade. Then it will go on display at Hardware Hawai'i, which donated much of the material for the project. The auction for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life will take place July 9 and 10 at Kailua Beach Park.

Schmucker, who has survived two bouts with cancer, said he has lots of reason for spearheading this project and operating the Cure Cafe at the Relay for Life, where he and friends prepare a menu of items for relay participants.

"I just went to a funeral last week for a friend of mine who was 46 years old and died of cancer," Schmucker said. "I just found out three weeks ago my brother in Florida has it, and my mother and father both died from it. I want to help find the cure for this dreadful disease."

Two years ago the fishing group built a 336-square-foot playhouse that was auctioned for $15,000 to an anonymous buyer who then donated the playhouse to HUGS (Help, Understanding & Group Support), a nonprofit organization that supports the families of seriously ill children. The Cure Cafe that year brought in an additional $10,476.

Schmucker had hoped to build the gazebos last year but with the building boom heating up, material and volunteer labor were scarce, he said. Nevertheless the Cure Cafe, which sells fish and other foods, earned $13,500. This year he hopes to do better.

Schmucker obtained $9,800 worth of donated material for this year's project, including $2,500 from the anonymous playhouse buyer for roofing material.

While most gazebos are eight-sided, Schmucker said he and his buddies decided to build something unique that would easily fit into the corner of a back yard. The end product won't be painted, so the new owner can paint or stain the building to taste. Transportation for the building is included in the auction price.

Schmucker said his gazebo will have quality wood and nice finishes that will make it more appealing than most.

Byrde Cestare, head of the Windward Unit of the American Cancer Society, said Schmucker and his wife, Dianne, are extraordinary volunteers who go above and beyond in their efforts to raise money for cancer research. Dianne is also a cancer survivor, Cestare said.

"They realize the way to find the cure is to get the grassroots effort just demanding that it be found and showing that we're serious about it," she said. "It's people like that moving the marble that are going to find the cure."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.