STATE COLLEGE — Trent Golden was waiting patiently Saturday afternoon, but you could tell he was just bursting with excitement.
Anxiously glancing back and forth between his parents as they talked about the impact Thon has had on them, Golden, a Four Diamonds child, was eagerly awaiting a tour of the Lasch Football Building where he hoped he could meet his idol and favorite football player – Stephfon Green.
As his mother, Tammy, marveled at how many students show up for Thon each year – “There are so many baby-sitters here,” she remarked – Golden, of York, was ready to experience something he hadn’t done in the five previous Thons he has attended: Hang out with the football team.
For both Thon veterans such as Golden and for Thon newbies alike, there was no shortage of activities for Four Diamonds children and their families Saturday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center.
A stroll through the dance floor saw tons of bouncy balls and footballs being thrown, coloring, piggyback rides and even water gun fights. Earlier in the day, Four Diamonds children and their siblings strutted their stuff during an underwater-themed fashion show.
While dancers are on their feet for 46 hours, they say it pales in comparison to what the children and their families go through emotionally and physically. The weekend was about creating a magical atmosphere for about 230 Four Diamonds families who traveled to experience this year’s Thon.
Millersville native and Four Diamonds child Alex Miller tossed around a giant sky blue bouncy ball as he recounted the “huge water gun war” he participated in earlier. It pitted moralers against everyone else, but Alex was proud to say he held his own.
“I did pretty good,” the 12-year-old said and then switched the subject to today’s agenda. “I’m going to be on stage with the band and perform.”
Mom Jackie Miller marveled at how her son transforms inside the Jordan Center while surrounded by thousands of Penn State students.
“The minute we get here, he seems to come alive,” she said, glancing at her son as he threw her a megawatt, toothy smile. “The amount of giving and the amount of selflessness from Penn State students is amazing.”
Miller has become a part of the Phi Gamma Nu business fraternity family, said former dancer and Miller’s “pseudo-sister” Ashley Akright. Akright, who graduated in May, got involved with Thon years ago to honor the memory of her brother, Nikolas.
Seeing Thon from every angle – as a member of a Four Diamonds family, a volunteer and a dancer – gave Akright, of Hershey, a different perspective on how the weekend affects the children and their families.
“For a weekend, you can forget about what goes on in the hospital,” she said. “For many of these kids, it’s the one weekend a year they look forward to.”
Four Diamonds parents Kevin and Debbie Eslinger, of Landisburg, watched their son, Austin, climb under and around dancer J.C. Krauth’s legs as Krauth played with him. It was their first Thon, they said, a much-needed “break from the rigors of the treatment.” Their daughter, Megan, 2, a shy blond-haired, blue-eyed, pink-clad toddler, is a Four Diamonds child in remission after being diagnosed with cancer last January.
Four Diamonds sibling Danielle DiRocco, 8, was in the midst of a spirited water gun fight with some surrounding dancers as her parents, Lisa and Peter, talked about what Thon meant to them.
Their son, Alex, died at age 8 in 2001 after a battle with leukemia.
“One of the main reasons we come is to we want to show our children that there are organizations out there who continue to fight for a cure,” Peter DiRocco said.
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Saturday
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