Sheboygan Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic team builds a boat and wins "Best in Show"

Almost two years ago, members from the Sheboygan Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic’s Patient Advisory Committee were looking for a way to bring art therapy opportunities to patients and their family members. After talking with representatives from the local John Michael Kohler Arts Center, it was decided they would participate in the Arts Center’s Art Armada, an annual event for which participants build cardboard boats and race them in the Sheboygan River during July 4 festivities.

The Sheboygan VLCC team works together on the “In-Vince-Able Chemo-Soggy” during the John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s Art Armada.

Dr. Max Haid, VLCC oncologist, quickly became involved in the project and created the boat’s design concept. He and PAC members first constructed a four-foot prototype of the boat, which has been displayed at the clinic for patients to enjoy, and then built the real thing. A truck full of cardboard was donated, and up to eight people met each week for three months to work on the boat. The result was a 16-foot-long boat named the “In-Vince-Able Chemo-Soggy.”

On July 4, 2009, the boat, rowed by Dr. Haid, David Peffer, Kate Marventano and Vicki Menuge, was launched in the Sheboygan River. The group wore Viking helmets and tunics and wielded cardboard swords and shields. Although they didn’t win the race, they won the “Best in Show” award for creativity, design, artistic merit and costuming.

Upon reflection, Menuge wrote, “We weren’t building just a boat. We were building community at our clinic, among patients and staff. We were building hope. We were building a spirit of survival. We were building a source of inspiration for those who weren’t able to help. We were using art to get us out of the cancer experience for awhile, and into a creative world where disease has no hold. Yes, it was worth it. It was worth every moment.”