The Celtic Club of Ohio honored those who have lost their lives to cancer during the 14th annual Celtic Club Fights Cancer campaign Friday afternoon by hanging long lines of bras across a Barberton bridge to spread awareness.
Originally honoring those with breast cancer, the club began hanging bras on a bridge in Kent in 2010 to spread awareness and honor those who had died from the disease. Once called “Bras Across the Crooked River,” it was later changed to remember people who have died from all types of cancer.
The Celtic Club of Ohio was created in 2002 by Jim Collver and his late girlfriend, Mary Rita Murray-Klein, as a way to celebrate and embrace their Irish heritage.
“Her bright red hair and prominent freckles…she was the epitome of an Irish woman,” Cullver said.
After Cullver’s grandmother and aunt died from breast cancer and Murray-Klein died from lung cancer in 2007, something ignited inside of him. He knew he had a mission: to honor those who no longer have a voice.
The donated bras that are strung across Akron-area bridges are then provided to battered women’s shelters in the region.
“I was really surprised the first time we did it,” Cullver said. “We’ve never done anything like that before, but we ended up getting 2,000 donations of bras…I’ve lost count of how many we’ve received since then. I know we’ve ended up donating over 11,000 bras to shelters for battered women.”
Since 2009, the Celtic Club has had 41 bridge displays in seven Northeast Ohio counties: Cuyahoga, Lake, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit and Tuscarawas.
This year, the group set up bras along the Barberton bridge on Wooster/Robinson Road so hundreds of cars passing through can catch a glimpse. Cullver said it is no easy feat to get the bras up, especially because he has a broken foot, but that it is worth it.
Alongside Cullver, four volunteers show up every year and all standing proud in pink to represent breast cancer awareness. Lori Dunton, Michelle Kessell, Kathy Ball and Tim Yeager give all the credit to Cullver, though.
“That’s big Jim, he’s the one doing all of this,” Yeager said.
“We just follow his lead.” Kessel added.
Barberton Mayor Bill Judge, who also came out to help set up the long string of bras, has an emotional attachment to the cause. His mom died from pancreatic cancer.
“Anything we can do to spread information about cancer along with generating funds for cancer research, we love to do things like this and we’ll do it every time,” Judge said. “We’ve gotten only positive reactions…a lot of questions at first, but all positive.”
As a busy bustle of drivers pass along the bridge, long glances and honking horns erupt as they observe the colorful assortment of women’s brassiers flailing in the wind.
“God bless ya’ll!!” one person shouted as they drove across the bridge.
“Every time I’m on the bridge, I just think of Mary,” Cullver said with a laugh. “She would’ve loved it.”
Cullver finds it a little bittersweet thinking about those he has lost to cancer, but enjoys the fact that he is spreading awareness.
One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and 1,752,735 cases of cancer were detected and diagnosed in 2019 alone.
Although these numbers may sound daunting, it won’t ruin Cullver’s hopefulness and joy when setting up the bras for a day of honor, remembrance and awareness.
“Not today, cancer,” he said. “Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, just not today.”