Prior to opening the city council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 12, Mayor Mary Ann Holzkamp and the council members welcomed representatives from Glen Cove CARES, our city's preeminent cancer awareness and education group, and presented the women with a proclamation honoring the group's service to the City of Glen Cove. The mayor reminded all present that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and October 15 is National Mammography Day, and encouraged women to get mammograms and men to encourage their women to do so, adding that men are not immune to the disease. Mayor Holzkamp said, "Over 216,000 new cases of female breast cancer will be diagnosed this year and close to 40,000 women will die from the disease. Additionally, almost 1,500 new cases of male breast cancer will be diagnosed this year and over 500 men will die from it," adding that early detection and prompt treatment can significantly reduce suffering and deaths caused by this disease. Mammography, an X-ray of the breast, is recognized as the single most effective method of detecting breast changes that may be cancer long before physical changes and physical symptoms can be seen or felt.

Glen Cove CARES is a dedicated group of volunteers that uses innovative ways to keep the community "in the pink." Its most visible work in our city is the annual Gardens of Hope planting project. The project was the brainchild of the late Terry Petikas, founder of Glen Cove CARES, who fought a 12-year battle with breast cancer before succumbing to the disease. This year, Oct. 23 has been chosen as the day volunteers will plant pink tulip bulbs all around Glen Cove to bloom in a dazzling display citywide in the spring. They are a reminder to us all that, as Ms. Petikas ardently believed, "Where there is awareness, there is hope."