Floating downstream is easy, especially for those who have been fighting an uphill battle.
Over the past two decades, the “Shooting Stars” have made their way down Montana’s rivers each summer, an activity of Camp Mak-A-Dream. Going with the flow, young adults and teens put- ting up a fight with cancer have had a chance to relax and simply be in nature.
Since 1997, approximately 2000 individuals have participated in the float event, and many of the backers and organizers, including the man who first suggested it, Chuck Mazurek, have come from Jefferson County.
August 11 was the big day this year. Gathering near Craig, 120 floaters and 27 boats started their roughly nine-mile journey along the Missouri River. Volunteers such as northern Jefferson County residents Steve Marks, Skoge Ma- zurek, Ginny Kalchbrenner, Dick Johnson, Tom Reilly and Chuck Mazurek helped guide the rafters out into the river, something most of them have done nearly every year since the inception of the “Shooting Star” program.
Joining them for the event, which included a lunch for about 200 participants and supporters, were a handful of Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens.
The Clark Fork, Blackfoot and Missouri rivers have all hosted the event in the past. Chuck Mazurek came up with the idea for the float trip and made the first trip a reality 20 years ago on the Clark Fork. Until 2010, Montana Rail Link transported campers by train from the Camp Mak-A- Dream site near Gold Creek to the river. About four years later, the launch was moved to the Missouri.
While the location has changed, the spirit of the event has not. Ma- zurek said there have been years where rain and cold or out of control wildfires have cancelled the event, but every time it has been held there have been broad smiles on the faces of campers, camp staff and other participants.
In 2015 the Montana Legislature proclaimed Camp Mak-A- Dream an endeavor of “kindness, care and compassion enhancing the lives of cancer patients by fulfilling their ‘dream’ with a memorable Montana Experience.”
That year was the 20th anniversary of operations for Camp Mak-A-Dream, conceived of in 1991 when Detroit couple Harry and Sylvia Granader donated 87 acres of their working ranch in Gold Creek. The goal of the donation was to provide a Montana experience for children diagnosed with cancer.
The first camp served 46 campers in one session. Since then, the camp has served over 6000 participants from 49 states and eight foreign countries. Currently, the camp offers eleven cost-free programs, including age group camps for cancer patients from six to 40 years old, camps for children and teens with parents or siblings battling cancer, camps for those diagnosed with a brain tumor, and camps for women diagnosed with cancer.
Not all of those campers participate in the “Shooting Star” float trip, but over its 20 years, the float trip has put smiles on the faces of close to 2000 young adults and teens.
Camp Mak-A-Dream is entirely privately funded with an annual budget around $1.5 million. It has partnerships with hospitals that include St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Tennessee, Seattle Children’s Hospital and others around the nation. It is one of only a few oncology camps that serve a national population and accept campers who are in the midst of treatment. A health center added in 2005 provides semi-private treatment rooms and an isolation room. A 2015 wellness center provides space for activities, workshops, educational classes, a teaching kitchen and more.
Anyone interested in learning more about how to support “Shooting Star” float trip or Camp Mak-A-Dream may contact Mazurek at clancy. mazurek@gmail.com or visit campdream.org.
