Dust off your cowboy boots and mark your calendar for Saturday, October 18, the date of the Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Harvest Hoedown. This fundraiser will be an evening of country western dancing and dining to support Shore Health System’s investment in digital mammography.

The Harvest Hoedown will be held at the Talbot Country Club in Easton. Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. The dress for the down home event is country western chic from head to toe. Bring a hearty appetite for a country barbeque of ribs, chicken and pork. Music will be provided Ralph Case and the Cloggers, whose music and easy-to-follow square dance calling get greenhorns and accomplished reelers out on the dance floor to swing their partners and dosey-do.

While the theme of the Harvest Hoedown is playful, the fundraiser addresses a more serious issue. “Breast cancer affects one in eight women and changes the lives of the friends and families who love them,” says Christopher Levey, MD, chief of radiology for The Memorial Hospital at Easton. “Shore Health System is enhancing its comprehensive program for diagnosing and treating this pervasive disease by installing a new, state of the art digital mammography system.”

Dr. Levey, adds, “Mammography screening is the best tool for detecting breast cancer at an early, treatable stage in women age 40 and older. A screening mammogram is a simple, low-dose X-ray procedure that can reveal breast cancer at its earliest stage, up to five years before it is large enough to be felt.”

The price tag for Shore Health System’s conversion to digital mammography is $2 million. The GE Healthcare Senographe Digital Mammography system provides faster and easier mammograms. “With digital mammography, we give our referring physicians extremely accurate images to use in diagnosis,” Dr. Levey says. Digital mammography will be available at Memorial Hospital, Dorchester General Hospital, and at the Diagnostic and Imaging Centers in Easton, Denton and Centreville.

The Harvest Hoedown planning committee consists of Memorial Hospital Foundation supporters who know how to throw a party. Delia Denny and Cami Pecorak are creating a country western setting. The other details for this fun-filled evening are being coordinated by Susie Dillon, P. J. Hunt, Kathleen Lea, Dr. Sharon Liu, Judy Munn, Cammy Passarella and Carol Rolle.

Tickets for the Harvest Hoedown are $175. To reserve your tickets, contact Debbie Gardner in the Memorial Hospital Foundation office at 410-822-1000, ext. 5481.