Feb 9, 2017 3 min read

More than an entertaining Senior Night basketball game will unfold in the Fort Cherry High School gym this evening. It also will be Nicole Night.

Nicole Stewart, a Fort Cherry junior, will be a focus of attention – perhaps even the focus – when the Rangers engage Chartiers-Houston in a boys matchup tipping off at 7:30. She was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.

Nicole hopes to attend the game, but that is uncertain. Medical treatments have prevented her from attending class, and may keep her out of school until August.

“She has a very positive outlook,” said Debbie Cowden, school nurse for the district. “She is a very quiet, very helpful, very friendly young lady.”

A very active one as well. At school, Nicole is involved in majorettes, National Honor Society, chorus, dance, school musicals and track and field. She also is a member of a church youth group and a rod and gun club.

For one evening, Fort Cherry will expand its palette of school colors to red, white and purple. The game will be a “purple out,” with those who attend encouraged to wear tops and/or bottoms of that color, which is used to represent lymphoma. Fort Cherry’s chorus will sing the national anthem.

This will be a fun and fundraising Friday, the latter to ease the financial burden confronting Nicole’s family. Students designed a long-sleeve T-shirt – “Stewart Support Squad” – that goes for $20. Cheerleaders will pass around buckets for donations during the game, and “Hope” bracelets and support ribbons will be on sale.

There also will be a Chinese auction, featuring a bundle of baskets on which to bid.

“We got them from the community, students, the faculty,” Cowden said. “We got one from the Steelers. We even have one from the opposing team (Chartiers-Houston).”

Cowden and Andrea Garry, a music instructor and the majorette sponsor, have helped spearhead the support for Nicole. They are collecting books for the teen, an avid reader, and set up a Notes for Nicole box, where cheery and encouraging missives may be dropped.

Tonight’s game, on its own, is a scintillating attraction: Chartiers-Houston (11-0, 16-4), the Section 2-AA champion, against the Rangers (9-2, 15-5), who are a game up on California for second place. It will be Senior Night for Fort Cherry’s players and cheerleaders.

But this also will be Nicole’s Night.

Anyone wanting to buy a shirt or make a donation should address it to Debbie Cowden or Andrea Garry, Fort Cherry High School, 110 Fort Cherry Road, McDonald, PA 15057. Checks should be made out to Fort Cherry School District. Shirt size should be listed.