Swimmers and Kayakers Honor Jacqui Mac

Provincetown Banner July 30, 2009

Healer. Massage therapist. Chef. DJ. The late Jacqui Mac was all of these and much more. To her friends and collaborators in life she was high octane with a soulful heart. In honor of her memory and her many contributions to the community, a contingent of swimmers, kayakers and cheerleaders will participate in the Swim for Life on September 12. Lyne Desormeaux, a swimmer herself who met Jacqui at the Women’s Music Festival in 1986, thought this event would by a fitting way to recognize Jacqui’s love of Provincetown and the healing waters of Provincetown Harbor, where Jacqui swam in the event in 1989. Their shared French background and love of music created a lasting friendship.

“I miss her. But her spirit lives on through her friends. This swim is for the love we have for her,” states Lyne, who is a consultant psychologist based in Portland, Connecticut. She has organized a group, including long-time Swim for Life swimmer Sue Aronof and swimmer Suzanne Shayer. Kayakers include Kaolin Davis, Carla Anderson, Jasmine Benjoya and Rhonda.Vanezia. Cheerleaders include Carol Pugliese, Laura Shabott, Deb Ullman and Dan Hamilton. Others are invited to join the team. Donations may be made in Jacqui’s name on Lyne’s webpage at www.firstgiving.org, or through the Swim for Life website, www.swim4life.org.

Jacqui arrived in Provincetown in the mid-1970s and quickly established herself as the go-to person for massage, astrology, and later past life regression work. She co-founded Wonderful Hands Massage with Carol Pugliese in 1982, just in time to assist those infected with HIV. But it was her music and DJing that brought her widespread notoriety, pushing and riding the disco wave of the 1970s and 1980s in local and regional dance clubs. She was a master of vinyl, later picking up digital sound after a long hiatus. She lived for a number of years in Austin, Texas and San Francisco but Provincetown was home. Jacqui would have been 55 years old on September 7.

The 2008 event raised $160,000 from over 300 swimmers and kayakers. Beneficiaries include the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad, Lower Cape Ambulance, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown and the Academy at Provincetown High School. Business sponsors for 2009 to date include: Provincetown Banner, Paul Mitchell, Boatslip Resort, Far Land Provisions, White Porch Inn, Lobster Pot Restaurant, Seamen's Bank, and Fanizzi's Restaurant. The event is also sponsored in part by the Provincetown Visitor Services Board.

This popular post-Labor Day celebration and quintessential community event will be held at the Boatslip Resort, 161 Commercial Street, and includes the Mermaid Brunch, entertainment and the awards ceremony. The Celebration of Life Concert will be held at the Meeting House on Friday evening. For the third year, local community radio station WOMR 92.1 FM (www.womr.org) will broadcast the event live and online from the Boatslip Resort and from the starting line at Long Point.

Shirl Roccapriore’s Swim for Life t-shirts (100% organic cotton) are for sale at Seamen’s Bank, Commercial Street, and Venture Athletics.

For registration forms for swimmers, paddlers, security boaters, volunteers and sponsorship opportunities, or to make a donation, contact: Swim for Life, P.O. Box 819, Provincetown, MA 02657, 508-487-1930, email, thecompact@comcast.net, and at its website, www.swim4life.org.