OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Barely 12 hours after more than 130 well-wishers told Diane Schostak what she means to them, she was still taking it all in.
A dinner and silent-auction benefit that raised $8,500 to help cover her medical expenses was held at Lake Crescent Lodge on Friday evening for Schostak, 59, who is being treated for stage 4 breast cancer.
The longtime Forks resident said Saturday morning she was “a little weepy, a little tired” while she sewed receiving blankets for a baby shower later in the day.
“I guess it’s hard to kind of wrap your head around being appreciated on that level,” said Schostak, the former director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce and retired executive director of the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau.
“I never think about that, but I just feel really blessed I got to feel that and people are generous and kind and appreciative of the work I’ve done, and what more can a person ask for?”
Well-wishers
Schostak, husband Ken and other family members and friends sat in a semicircle of chairs as people hugged her and wished her well at the packed lodge, which is closed for the season but which Aramark Corp. opened for the night and donated for the event.
Paying $40 each for a dinner of hors d’oeuvres, soup, salad, pie and a chocolate fountain, those who came to the benefit put bids on more than 100 auction items, said event organizer Mike Rainey.
Rainey said $9,000 was raised at the event, billed as “A Night with Diane,” with $500 covering food and plastic dinnerware.
Music was provided by Loose Gravel, while the Makah tribe prepared the meal and donated halibut for the seafood chowder, said Rainey, the tribe’s business manager.
Decorations were put up by the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission.
‘Exceeded expectations’
“It exceeded my expectations,” Rainey said of the evening.
At one point, Schostak said she was getting tired, but she stayed, alighting the lodge staircase to thank the attendees.
“I have lived a blessed life, and I’m going to live a lot more blessed life,” she said.
“Life is important, and the care we have for each other is probably the most important thing we have.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
