By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – A touch of Christmas came early Monday night.

Two white, Imperial Limousines whisked two families – each with a child that has cancer – around town for a tour of Christmas-lit homes.

One of the guests was Derek Hemond, 4, of Minot.

A curious boy with chubby cheeks, a ready smile and knit hat to keep his head warm, Derek was diagnosed in June with leukemia.

“We’re hopeful,” said his mother, Billie-Jo Hemond. Except for Derek’s lack of hair, on many days you wouldn’t know he was sick, she said.

The annual limo-light tour was sponsored by the Maine Elks Association to benefit the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. The tour is provided to cancer-stricken children and their families.

After eating dinner at the Elks Club, unwrapping presents under a tree (Derek got a race-car set), the boy, his mother, three sisters, brother, aunt and uncle climbed into the limo.

“Wow! Are we famous?” brother Jared, 8, asked as he slid across the leather seats and gazed at the ceiling lights.

“Cool car!” Derek said. “Trevor would like this car.” Trevor is his cousin, his mother explained.

At times, Derek sat on his uncle John Gallant’s lap. Other times he made faces and laughed in a mirror. He often pulled down his wool hat until it covered his eyes. He did it when he was cold, shy or playing, his mother said.

Soon the limo stopped at house after house all aglow.

The squeals began.

“The Abominable Snowman!” the Hemond kids said as they spied a blowup. “He’s the one in ‘Rudolph.'”

“Oh look, the reindeer and the snowman are moving,” Jared said.

“A Dalmatian!” said one of the girls, prompting another to sing: “Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil…” from “101 Dalmatians.”

“Baby Jesus,” the girls crooned when they saw a manger.

Derek overheard someone say “doctors.” He turned his head, looked at his mother, and asked were they going to the doctor’s?

No, she said, his sister Nicole has to go to the doctor’s.

When Derek hears that word, it makes him nervous, Billy-Jo said. He’s familiar with doctors.

Last June, blood tests revealed Derek had leukemia. From June 25 through July 26, he was hospitalized at the Barbara Bush Wing at Maine Medical Center. “It was a long time. He had really bad infections and complications. It was scary,” Billy Jo said.

Since he was released, Derek has mostly been out of the hospital, but has to undergo chemotherapy treatments, like one he had Monday.

More lights soon turned attention back to Christmas.

Derek is excited about Santa coming. He wants a Thomas train track, a dinosaur. “I want a sharp tooth,” he said.

Around 8 p.m., the limo pulled up at Thomas Bellegarde’s dazzling home at the corner of Russell and Bellegarde. The kids shrieked. There were so many Christmas characters, “it’s like a party,” Jared exclaimed.

“There’s Santa Claus! He’s real!” one of the girls said.

Limo driver Guy Desjardins opened the door. Everyone got out. Santa found himself surrounded. Each child got a close look, a chance to greet Santa.

Derek grinned when Santa handed him a candy cane. He then snuggled in his uncle’s jacket to ward off the cold.

After that, the limo drove away, off to see more lights.

Most nights Derek is tucked in around 8 p.m. But Monday, as of 10 p.m., he was still up, too excited to sleep.

“He told his daddy (Paul Hemond) he went to see the lights and candy canes in a car,” his mother said. “Now he’s opening up his car set.”