Published on August 19, 2006 in The Asbury Park Press

BY BONNIE DELANEY
STAFF WRITER

They started arriving at 7:30 a.m. at The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe in Lavallette.

And by the time the breast cancer walk started an hour later, all one could see was a sea of pink shirts, worn by men, women and children who gathered to walk to raise money for a cure.

"It's gotten bigger every year," said Len Christoforo, a Lavallette resident who is director of the Lavallette Municipal Alliance, one of the sponsors of the Lavallette Breast Cancer Walk that took place Aug. 6. "It's a walk for a good cause and it's a good way for us to get our anti-tobacco message out to the public."

Christoforo and alliance members came to the walk to help register walkers — 603, to be exact. Lavallette police directed traffic around the walkers and ice cream shop employees handed out cold water bottles, made and sold fresh lemonade, and scooped out vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream for those who completed the 2-mile walk to raise money for breast cancer awareness and cancer research.

Anita Zalom, a Lavallette councilwoman, wore a pink T-shirt, took photographs of the crowd, and walked.

"I'm here as a resident of Lavallette. This is something that is good for the community and helps bring us together," Zalom said. "Everyone knows someone who has been touched by cancer."

Nancy Hom drove to the shore from Millstone to participate in the walk.

"My daughter used to work here, and I've always wanted to do the walk," she said. "Plus, it's for a good cause — raising money to eradicate breast cancer."

The walk was started three years ago by Robert Agliata and his wife, Josephine Sessa-Agliata, the owners of the ice cream shop, in honor of Agliata's mother, Antoinette "Tone" Agliata, of Stafford, who is an 11-year survivor of breast cancer.

The couple, who live in Lavallette during the summer and Colts Neck the rest of the year, created the Tone Foundation asa way to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer program for breast cancer research.

"I'm always so amazed at all the people who come to the walk," said Antoinette Agliata as she and her husband, Vincent, showed off their newest grandchild, Vincent Agliata, who is Robert and Josephine's nearly three-month-old son.

"It's really turned into a family affair. My whole family is here today," she said, noting that sons Vincent Agliata, of Seacock, Mass., and Thomas Agliata, of Hampton, Hunterdon County, and their families came to the walk.

Sitting on a boardwalk bench at a point near the end of the walk, Vincent Agliata snapped pictures of walkers.

"I don't think Aggie (Robert Agliata) ever realized it would become so big. But he knows what he's doing and it's a good way to raise awareness and make a difference," Vincent Agliata, Robert's brother, said.

The walk raised more than $16,500, Robert Agliata said.

Sponsors included Merrill Lynch of Manasquan, Diane Turton Realty of Lavallette, Lavallette Printing, Sessa Design of Colts Neck, and Community Medical Center in Dover Township.

Bonnie Delaney (732) 643-4218 or bdelaney@app.com