6/27/2005
By Ryan Maxwell, Thon Chair
The Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) — just another cancer aid fundraiser? After standing outside with a tin can for a couple of weekends and standing on my feet for 48 hours straight, I can assure you THON is so much more. THON is thousands of people raising money through canning, pledge books, and corporate donations.
It’s the kids and their families, the 704 dancers, the thousands of “behind the scenes” people, and 10,000 visitors that
fill the stands of Rec Hall. That is what THON is all about.
This was the first year I was able to dance in THON. Yeah, my feet hurt from time to time, and my eye’s got heavy, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. All dancer “couples” had one or two “moralers,” or people that try to keep the dancers upbeat during the event. These moralers were on the floor with their dancers for about four hours, and then had a four-hour break. I had two of the best moralers who always had the right kind of food or toy to give me. Though my moralers were excellent, I probably could have gone without them because there always seemed to be a brother there visiting. As a matter of fact, after the first 12 hours, there was at least one brother in Rec Hall for the rest of THON. The support received by the three is us who danced was unbelievable. Even when our moralers and brothers weren’t around, someone else’s moraler or another dancer was quick to step in to help.
By far, the best part of THON was the last couple of hours. Everyone had been up for so long, yet there was still so much energy. THON would turn into a concert when songs like “Hey Baby” or “Livin’ on a Prayer” would come on. The culminating event was when the grand total was shown at the very end: $4,122,483. Everyone went CRAZY; I took a small video clip of when the total was shown, and I still get choked up watching it. The previous record was shattered by $575000.
After it was all over, my parents took me out to dinner, followed by a solid twelve-hour much-needed sleep. THON weekend was one of the best weekend’s I’ve had at PSU, and I hope to see many more Kappa Sigma’s come visit for
THON ’06.