POLAND — Summer Emery didn’t swing a bat in Saturday’s softball game, but a lot of bats were swung in her name.

Platefuls of spaghetti were eaten in her honor, too, and women from all over Mechanic Falls sold Tupperware and purses and fingernail art and glittery tattoos — all to help the 15-year-old.

“It’s a good thing, a good feeling, to know this many people care,” she said.

Summer was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is scheduled to begin weekly rounds of chemotherapy lasting for the next six months.

So Saturday’s day-long event, One Summer’s Day, was designed to raise money for Summer’s care and help raise her spirits.

The day was sponsored by Mechanic Falls’ Pink Feather Foundation, a group of four friends — Jen Kyllonen, Rachel Verrill, Pam Grondin and Joni Gordon — who want to do some good for the community.

The pink feather theme came from a bachelorette party Verrill attended a few years ago and a scavenger hunt she played. Contestants had to go from place to place around Central Maine, taking silly pictures of themselves as they went.

“We made the bride wear a pink feather boa, so everywhere we went that day, we left a trail of pink feathers,” Verrill said. “That’s kind of what we wanted our foundation to be. We’d go everywhere and leave our mark. We want to let people know that giving back and volunteering can be fun.”

The group began last fall, putting together Thanksgiving baskets for the needy and raising money for families down on their luck.

Saturday’s event was their most ambitious to date. It featured a day-long one pitch softball tournament on the Poland Region High School ball fields, followed by an afternoon table sale in the school’s lobby and spaghetti dinner in the school cafeteria.

It ended with an improv comedy show in the school’s auditorium.

Softball teams paid $200 to register, and all table sales, and dinner and comedy show tickets go to the family. Kyllonen said the group had raised $5,000 to help Summer before the first pitch was thrown.

“We just wanted to get put together a list of fun events,” Kyllonen said. “We picked softball, because we know Summer loves softball. We wanted shopping for something to do in the afternoon. And who doesn’t love spaghetti?”

staylor@sunjournal.com

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