Pig Bowl 2024 will take place at Sid White Field at the Wahtonka High School Campus in The Dalles. Admission is $5 a person or $20 per family. Gates open at 6 p.m., with the game starting at 7 p.m. While it is cash only for admission, according to pigbowl.net, cards will be accepted for food and swag available for purchase. Above, recipient Everett Huskey with his parents Elijah and Becky.
Pig Bowl 2024 will take place at Sid White Field at the Wahtonka High School Campus in The Dalles. Admission is $5 a person or $20 per family. Gates open at 6 p.m., with the game starting at 7 p.m. While it is cash only for admission, according to pigbowl.net, cards will be accepted for food and swag available for purchase. Above, recipient Everett Huskey with his parents Elijah and Becky.
THE DALLES — On Sept. 28, the Pig Bowl flag football game, an annual fundraiser for local families in need, returns for its 21st year.
While historically being a face-off between Oregon and Washington law enforcement, in 2022 the event shifted gears due to staffing shortages and law enforcement having to work longer hours, as previously reported by Columbia Gorge News. Ever since, Gorge-wide law enforcement has competed in a flag football showdown against local firefighting agencies to raise funds for community members and their families who are facing medical and financial hardships.
As per usual, local businesses and community members are able to donate points towards the team they would like to see win before the game even starts, with $25 earning a field goal and $50 earning a touchdown. Donations are currently being accepted and can be made at pigbowl.net or in person at the game, during which, according to Pig Bowl organizers, donations will be accepted until the fourth quarter.
This year, three families were named as recipients for the fundraiser: John Herlocker, Katie Garthwaite and Everett Huskey.
Recipient John Herlocker with his wife Laurel and daughter Teagan.
DIAMONDHEART PHOTOGRAPHY
John Herlocker
According to the Pig Bowl – The Dalles Facebook page, Herlocker is a Wamic resident, living there with his wife Laurel and 2-year-old daughter Teagan. Prior to his medical issues, Herlocker worked as security guard at The Dalles Dam and volunteered as a firefighter and EMR (Emergey Medical Responder) for the Wamic Fire Department. In 2022, Herlocker was diagnosed with Constrictive Pericarditis — a condition, according to National Library of Medicine, in which granulation tissue forms in the protective fibroelastic sac (pericardium) that covers the heart, which leads to the restriction in the ventricular filling of the heart.
According to the Facebook page, that October Herlocker underwent a procedure to remove the calcified pericardium, which was successful, but set off a series of complications that required multiple further procedures and medications. He was referred to a Cleavland Health Clinic to work with a specialist.
Herlocker’s family struggled financially, as he did not receive disability and his wife could only work part time in order to care for him and their daughter, relying on the assistance of friends and family to help make ends meet.
In October 2023, Herlocker underwent a cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal surgery, according to hopkinsmedicine.org) which once again led to several complications that resulted in multiple surgeries and procedures, delaying the family’s trip to Cleveland. Once able to make the trip, Herlocker was scheduled for another heart procedure, but following several tests, the procedure was canceled, as his doctor concluded his condition was being compounded by the medication he was on.
Now off that heavy medication, Herlocker is home recovering. He is set to undergo procedures and testing to discover the cause of his pericarditis, with the possibility of more surgeries in the future.
Pig Bowl 2024 recipient Katie Garthwaite with her daughter Gracie and Husband Mike.
Contributed photo
Katie Garthwaite
Katie Garthwaite is a resident of Condon, where she was raised. She resides there with her husband Mike and their daughter Gracie.
According to the Pig Bowl – The Dalles Facebook page, Garthwaite spent much of her life rodeoing, qualifying for National Finals Rodeo in 1999. After getting married in 2000, she and her husband trained horses in Canada, where they eventually got involved in the film industry, working with horses and performing stunt work for popular shows such as "The Revenant," "The 100" and "Strange Empire." The endeavor even briefly took them to China. In the summer of 2022, Garthwaite noticed her left leg was feeling weaker and went to see a physical therapist. After undergoing an MRI, Garthwaite was told she was suspected to have Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which was confirmed in January 2023. Garthwaite was told by her doctors that she would have between 2–5 years to live.
Garthwaite’s husband Mike searched and found a few clinics providing experimental treatments to potentially stop the progression of her ALS. According to the Facebook page, Garthwaite attends a clinic in Miami for two weeks at a time, costing $10,000 a week, as insurance does not pay for the treatments.
Everett Huskey
Four-year-old Everett Huskey lives in The Dalles with his parents Becky and Elijah. He has two siblings, 20-year-old Samantha and 11-year-old Spencer.
According to the Pig Bowl Facebook page, from the time he was a newborn, Everett struggled medically, such as with a condition called micrognathia — where the lower jaw is smaller than normal, according to Cleveland Clinic.org — a split uvula, a rare genetic condition in the microdeletion of chromosome 11Q, developmental and speech delays and behavioral issues.
In October 2023, Everett was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, following a CT scan that discovered a mass in front of his heart. Everett was started on a three-year treatment plan, resulting in frequent hospital appointments in Portland. According to Facebook, with his appointments often every other if not every weekday, Everett’s parents have frequently taken off work to make his appointments.
With the help of a family member, the Huskey family was able to move from the trailer where they were staying into a small rental home, to more comfortably take care of Everett, and is currently focusing on paying off debts to be able to move into a larger home.
Pig Bowl 2024 will take place at Sid White Field at the Wahtonka High School Campus in The Dalles. Admission is $5 a person or $20 per family. Gates open at 6 p.m., with the game starting at 7 p.m. While it is cash only for admission, according to pigbowl.net, cards will be accepted for food and swag available for purchase.
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