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Patricia Unan: What Was That Name?

So what happens when you have a rock gathering that makes you think of that iconic music festival, Woodstock and you designate it as a fundraiser for breast cancer? You get Boobstock, a local rock festival on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the John Sobieski III Club in Deep River. In case there was anybody who needed a further hint, the O’s on the Patricia Unan’s Boobstock T-shirt have little dots in the center so you know just what you are seeing.

Patricia, who lives in Deep River, is the administrator of the upcoming rock festival. She knows the event’s name raises guffaws and eyebrows in some circles. A nursery school where she wanted to put up a poster said she could, as long as she covered the name of the event. To assuage some sensibilities, the festival, now in its fourth year, used to be officially known as Margaret’s Wish, but informally it was always Boobstock. This year Boobstock became the official name.

“People say a lot worse things,” Patricia points out.

Local bands appearing include Jiki Jiki Ja, Rod and Jack, Smoke and Bubbles, Bokum Road, and Someone You Can X-Ray. There will be music from 1 to 6 p.m.

Boobstock was the inspiration of Patricia and her good friend, the late Margaret Rohner, who was diagnosed with breast cancer through a free screening program at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Patricia’s connection to the disease also included her mother, the late Nell Johnson of Deep River, who succumbed to breast cancer in 2012 less than a month short of her 71st birthday. Johnson had been treated at Middlesex Hospital. Cancer research and treatment programs at both Smilow and Middlesex will be the beneficiaries of the funds Boobstock is raising.

Patricia grew particularly close to Rohner when she drove her to Smilow for her cancer treatments, which proved successful. Rohner was declared cancer free, but her story nonetheless has a tragic ending. She was murdered in December 2013 by her son Robert O. Rankin. At trial, Rankin, who suffers from schizophrenia, was adjudged not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state psychiatric institution.

Boobstock was the product of happier days in Rohner’s life. She wanted to combine her love of rock music with her desire to pay forward the good fortune of her beating her cancer diagnosis by helping other women fight the condition.

“When we came up with Boobstock, Margaret laughed hysterically,” Patricia recalls. “We think it is important to keep the name.”

Rohner’s longtime companion Jack Adanti, who will be playing in several of the bands that will appear this year, was also involved with Boobstock from its beginnings.

On a recent morning, Patricia was wearing the signature pink T-shirt that will be on sale at Boobstock. She says that despite its color, men have been enthusiastic about buying the shirts.

“Even thought it is pink, men will wear it. Everybody knows somebody who has been affected by breast cancer,” she says.

Patricia knows about selling T-shirts—it is one of the things she has done at the Deep River Muster, with which she has been involved for many years, starting as a fifer when she was a child. She played in the Deep River Tories, a group for children too young to join the Deep River Junior Ancients. She went on to play the Junior Ancients and later the adult fifers and drummers, but stopped marching in 2010 because of back problems. Now she is an active muster volunteer.

Her other community activities include the board of the Deep River Library, the American Legion, and the Deep River Historical Society. She is in charge of all the paperwork for rentals for the society’s Carriage House. Patricia also leads a team that cooks several times a year for the Shoreline Soup Kitchen. Despite this full roster of activities, she claims that her late mother was even more involved in the community.

“It’s about half the activities and organizations my mother was active in,” she says.

Nell Johnson for many years was Deep River’s Agent for the Elderly.

“I think she was involved in pretty much everything but the ambulance and the fire department. She had meetings every night. She was nominated as Woman of the Year by three or four organizations,” Patricia says. “She was a huge influence on my life and Margaret was, too.”

Patricia graduated from Valley Regional High School and had already enlisted in the United States Air Force, though she couldn’t actually begin to fulfill her commitment until she turned 18, some six months later. The day after she enlisted, she learned she had received a scholarship to nursing school.

Her mind was already made up, however.

“I thought it was fate that I signed up when I did,” she explains, noting she served in the Air Force for eight years.

Planning for this year’s Boobstock began last spring.

“I am a person of lists. I have lists and diagrams for everything, tasks, how many chairs we need, what volunteers need to do,” she says.

She thinks the effort she puts in to the event is worth the result.

“It makes me feel good to be helping other people,” she adds.

Despite the planning, she admits to getting nervous as the event nears, but still she dreams big.

“Someday I’d like to see Boobstock get up to raising $10,000, even $20,000,” she says.

And she is equally interested in one more thing she hopes the event will emphasize: the importance of getting regular mammograms.

Boobstock: An Afternoon of Rocking Band Jams

Saturday, Sept. 17 from 1 to 6 p.m. at the John Sobieski III Club, 10 Woodland Drive, Deep River.

For tickets and information: call Patricia Unan at 860-227-6232 or email at dram2006@gmail.com; food is included in ticket price; beverages are extra.

For those who cannot attend the event but want to make a contribution, an account has been set up at Citizens Bank, 141 Main Street Deep River. Checks should be made out to “Boobstock.”