Tree of Hope spawns carriage business

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - 'Tis the season for warm wishes, and that's certainly what the Tree of Hope celebration is all about. People lined up for the horse drawn carriage rides at Roswell Park on Friday night.

The Roswell Park Tree of Hope lighting ceremony has always featured horse drawn carriage rides. Cindy Eller, an administrator at Roswell, started this tradition by asking her uncle's draft horse club to help out.

Jene Degman of the Collins Draft Horse, Ox and Pony Club said, "She knew I gave rides and had the draft horses and it just snowballed from there. We enjoyed doing it. We are glad to participate in the tree of hope and giving rides."

More members started to get involved because they wanted to give back to the community.

Dick Clark of the Misty Ridge Carriage Service said, "It was something we could give to the community and as it turns out down the road my wife was a cancer survivor, so now it is really important to us."

Already familiar with Roswell from her mother's bout with breast cancer, Mary Clark recently had to turn to Roswell herself.

"Several years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer also, and I am now a three year survivor and I can not say enough good about Roswell. The people there are very giving, very compassionate, they make you comfortable with your illness and treatment," Mary told News 4.

After volunteering, the Clarks decided they really enjoyed it and turned it into a business, calling it the "Misty Ridge Carriage Service."

Mary said, "We sort of combined our love for horses and people's interest in the horses and our interest in the people and decided we were going to do it as a way of supporting our horse addiction."

The horses are really a popular tradition at Roswell.