Ride For Life

Copyright © 2006 Long Islander Newspapers, Inc
By Erin Kennedy

Northport High School students gathered more than 400 people at Oheka Castle to celebrate the second annual Midwinter Night’s Dream on January 11, through which they raised more than $137,000 for ALS research in the name of former district teachers Chris Pendergast and David Deutsch.

Actor Billy Baldwin was present at the event and he raised more than $18,000 on the spot, gaining sponsorship for a Northport Middle School student shaving his head for the cause.

Former Yankees Tommy John and Jim Leyritz also attended the Midwinter Night’s Dream.

The event began with a science conference geared toward discovering new forms of research for ALS. The conference was titled “Can Nanoscience and Technology Accelerate Our Search for a Cure for ALS?” and featured scientists from across the nation. Led by Dr. Ratnesh Lal, the conference opened the doors for communication between these scientists.

“ALS is a very complex disease, but not beyond the reach of scientific knowledge right now,” Lal said, adding that difficulty finding a cure is partially attributed to our poor understanding of the disease.

So can nanoscience help? Lal’s sources say yes.

The event continued with the silent auction at 7 p.m., followed by speakers and dinner supplied by 38 different restaurants in the Northport area. Students raised $85,000 for ALS research through this event last year, and their dreams were realized this time around when they achieved their goal of raising six figures.

Exhilarated and moved members of the audience riddled the presentation portion of the evening with standing ovations. Beginning with a short film detailing fundraising efforts for ALS and continuing with members of the Northport High School community introducing the speakers, there was nary a dry eye in the house by the time it was over.

Baldwin then shocked the masses when he brought up a Northport Middle School student and began taking offers of $1,000, $500 or $100 from members of the audience for the boy to shave off his shoulder-length hair. By the time he was done, he had proved both the importance and worthiness of the cause to the generous attendees.

But if you ask Baldwin, he was really just “here for Chris and David … this is really about you and about the future,” he said.

Don Strasser, a Northport High School teacher who helped students organize the event, said he was deeply appreciative of all the restaurants and vendors who donated to the event and even more deeply proud of the 20 students who came together to make the event a success, as well as the plethora of other students who volunteered their time to help.

“Many of them said it was the best night of their life. It was the typical joy of working so hard for something and then finishing it off with success,” Strasser said. “They’re all so excited about the attendance and about the ALS patients that came and the money it raised, but more important was the great night and the overwhelming support of the community.”