York Town News
Fundraiser will help York High School teacher's fight against cancer
By Melissa Wood
YORK - Help support longtime York High School teacher Jack Hoyt in his battle against cancer by attending a fundraiser next Thursday, May 31.
The benefit, which was once planned as a simple spaghetti dinner, has turned into an eventful evening that will also feature live music from two bands, including York High School grads Johnny Wad and the Cash, and silent and live auctions from 5 to 10 p.m. More than 60 items have been donated for the auction, including four tickets to the Red Sox.
Those who are not able to attend the fundraiser at York High School are welcome to send donations to help support this longtime teacher and friend who is very seriously ill.
Over the past 26 years Hoyt has taught classes that include industrial technology, automotive, computer-aided design and Downeast folk art; he's organized and run the school's Future Farmers of America chapter, and coached hockey when an interim coach was needed. He is described as easygoing and well-liked, with students choosing to take his classes because he was teaching them.
Hoyt was first diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in August. After undergoing chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant in January, Hoyt is now at home in Gorham, where he lives with his wife Colleen on a farm where they raise beef cattle.
York High School Librarian Michele Adams, who has carpooled with Hoyt since she began working at the school a couple of years after Hoyt, said the transplant appears to have taken hold, but Hoyt has been struggling with side effects from chemotherapy and the transplant.
She said that although Hoyt has insurance, expenses have been very high for the family, especially since Hoyt hasn't been able to work and his wife has had to cut back to part-time hours to take care of him. Those expenses include numerous co-payments for medications and doctor visits, and the gas and tolls required for many trips to Boston and Portland.
"Every time you go to see the doctor it's $25," she said, "and gas isn't going down, I noticed."
Tickets for the benefit are $10 and can be purchased at the door next Thursday or in advance by calling Barbara Moynahan at the high school at 363-3621.
See next week's edition of The Independent for a special feature on Jack Hoyt.
