Benefit set for Lynn Martin, 58, diagnosed with terminal cancer (391 w/3 col cut)

By ROGER AMSDEN, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — A benefit fundraiser for a 58-year-old woman who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer will be held Sunday, June 5, from 1 to 5 p.m., at the Leavitt Park Club on Elm Street in Lakeport.

Lynn (Dore) Martin received word of her diagnosis on April 8 according to her friend, Valerie Thompson, who along with Ray Corliss, drummer for the LA East Rhythm and Blues Band, has been organizing the fundraiser.

"It's in my bones and liver. It stinks, but I can't change it and I have to deal with it and try to live every day to the fullest," said Martin. She says that she has been assigned a hospice care coordinator who meets with her every other week and monitors her condition.

"The doctor told me that it's a matter of months," she said. "Right now I'm able to be myself, but I get tired real quick."

Martin says she has worked all of her adult life, starting at Laconia State School, where she worked from 1975 until 1982 and most recently at Dunkin' Donuts, and now does occasional pet sitting. But she has no life insurance to cover her funeral expenses, which she said will involve cremation.

Thompson and Corliss say that the event will be hosted by the LA East Rhythm and Blues Band with Arthur James and Friends and will feature raffles of gift certificates from local businesses and restaurants. Donation is $10 per person and it will be a potluck/BYOB event.

Thompson says that a trust fund has been set with Meredith Village Savings Bank and that those who would like to contribute can send funds to the bank, addressed to Valerie Thompson, In Trust For Lynn Martin. For more information or to contribute items for the raffles call Thompson at 832-4960 or Corliss at 524-5860.

Corliss said the event was originally scheduled as a memorial tribute to the late Michael Sevigny, who died recently at the age of 65, and was a well-known local builder. He said that Sevigny will also be honored at the event.

Valerie Thompson and her Golden Retriever, Hunter, are shown with Lynn Martin, Owen Martin and Ray Corliss. Lynn Martin has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and Thompson and Corliss are organizing a fund raiser for her which will be held at Leavitt Park in Lakeport on June 5 from 1-5 p.m. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)