By Andrew Hoshkiw
Tuesday evenings, the scene in the Fireweek Cabin bar in the Yukon Inn is of a mellow open mic night, hosted by Whitehorse musician B.J. McLean.
This week, things were a bit different. Though still hosted by McLean, spoken word artist Robbie Benoit, who recently “beat” cancer, gathered there with a group of friends and supporters for a “Cancer Can Kiss My Ass” party.
Benoit invited his friend Shelagh Rogers, host of the national CBC radio morning show Sounds Like Canada, to attend the party and she graciously accepted.
Bringing with her an entourage of staff, the Vancouver-based Rogers recorded the evening for radio play during this morning’s 10:07 a.m. show, broadcast from the local CBC radio studios.
Rogers recounted how she had met Benoit last July while attending the Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournament, named after the late revered host of Morningside from 1982 to 1997.
“We drove around the golf course watching the action in a little golf cart, and over the course of the day he told me that he had been battling cancer,” Rogers said.
“I wanted to know if he had gotten the all-clear, so he sent me an e-mail back in October saying he had it and was going to have a party to celebrate, and was going to call it “Cancer Can Kiss My Ass”.
“I said, ‘Look, I’d really love to come, and bring my producer with me and record it and put it on the radio, but we’d probably have to call it something else.’ So he changed it to ‘To Hell with Cancer’, and that’s what brought us here.”
Rogers, who will turn 50 on election day, Jan. 23, first visited the Yukon in 1987, when she came to hike the Chilkoot Trail.
“I’ve come here eight times. I keep finding ways to come back up,” said Rogers, who would host Morningside during Gzowski’s absences due to illness or holidays.
McLean, who noted the amazing turnout, said she had a long list of people who wanted to participate in the event.
“We are doing this because a huge portion of the arts community has been hit with the big C,” she said.
“Some are here to tell the story, some are still going through treatments and there are a few bodies which are missing in the count, who are no longer here to participate in life, but they’re certainly here in spirit.”
For most of the evening, the venue was packed, with musicians lined up near the stage waiting to play.
“Tonight we’ve got a whole bunch of people who basically say, ‘to hell with cancer, and have a happy Christmas,’” said Benoit. “That’s the way you beat this disease.”
Last summer, Benoit battled gall bladder cancer, which then spread to his brain. After severe treatment, he was able to overcome the disease.
“I was so sick I could hardly stand on my own two feet; I needed all these people to help me,” he said. “Well, this is my way of saying thanks to them too.
“We’ve got a room full of true believers. I’m really impressed that they’re all here; these people are my friends. Just as I’ve beaten it, they’ve come out to celebrate that with me, and what a great way to go.”
The event also served as a fundraiser for Circleworks, a cancer support program conducted at the hospital.
“We’re gonna take up a collection for the relaxation centre over in the hospital,” he said.
Barb Chamberlin, who helps with the Circleworks program, said it’s conducted twice a month for cancer patients and their support people.
“Circleworks is a great program of meditation and relaxation,” said Chamberlin, who has also battled cancer. “It’s pretty new for most people.”
McLean spoke warmly of the work done by Chamberlin.
“She’s been doing some great work; we’re totally supportive of that,” she said. “A couple friends are struggling with it right now and so it reallty strikes home.”
Seven of the musicians participating were cancer survivors, said Benoit, who recited comic poetry to the crowd.
“It’s just impressive to see them all up there giving it all they got still, and to me it shows you we are in this together,” he said. “Nobody can do this alone.”
Among the musicians participating was local favourite Anne-Louise Genest. Three years ago, she was diagnosed with melanoma.
“I was very lucky, though, and haven’t had to go through what most people with cancer have had to deal with,” she said. “But I live with the knowledge that I’ve ‘stepped through the door’ and I can’t go back.
“When you’ve never had cancer, it’s like the distant cousin that you might meet one day, but then when you get it, it’s like your long-lost twin sister, who’s always with you now and you never know if it’s going to come up. So that’s a bit tough.”
Rogers said she was genuinely moved by the support Benoit had received.
“I find it incredibly moving to see the support of the arts community for this cause and how much one individual means to them, and I can also see that if anything had happened to Robbie, what a loss that would have been,” she said. “Because he’s such a vital man, he’s so full of life and he gives a lot of people a lot of joy.
“I feel lucky to have met him and I think he’s a kind of walking blessing on the Earth. I’m pretty moved and blown away by what’s happened here tonight.”
She said the evening was the kind of work she enjoys most.
“I like to meet people who are in the middle of something important in their lives,” she said. “This is a very personal story for Robbie, but there are so many people going through what he went through.
“It’s a personal story but very universal too.”
Genest summed up the spirit of the evening perfectly.
“As Robbie said it so well, ‘it may take your life one day, but in the meantime we’re all living,’ and I embrace that philosophy wholeheartedly,” she said.
“It’s great that so many people came out. I love Shelagh Rogers and I love the CBC, and it’s nice to know that we’re participating a little bit on a national level. I think CBC is such a great supporter of community and community arts”
After about two hours, Benoit announced that more than $700 in donations was raised for Circleworks.
“It’s a great excuse to have a fine party and forget for one night that 27 people a day die of this disease,” he said. “It claims so many people, but until it claims me, I’m in charge.”
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