Circle Furniture Owners to Ride in Pan-Mass Challenge

For the Tubman family, biking to fight cancer is a personal and family affair

For brothers Richard and Harold Tubman, the owners of local furniture retailer Circle Furniture, as well as Richard’s son Max, the Pan-Mass Challenge is a family event close to their hearts. Richard, Harold, and Max will all be biking across Massachusetts on August 3rd and 4th to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Peggy Burns, Millie Tubman, and Jessica Tubman will also be participating as volunteers along the extensive bike route.

Richard, for whom this will be his 5th Pan-Mass Challenge, started riding in the PMC on a promise to his doctor that he would ride alongside the doctor if he beat the cancer he was diagnosed with in 2008. “My first diagnosis was grim and had me thinking that I would never get to fulfill that promise,” said Richard. “But a second opinion and some fine work from the doctors at Dana Farber allowed me to participate the very next year and now, four Challenges later, I can proudly say that the Pan-Mass weekend is the highlight of my year.”

Max Tubman is also a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with thyroid cancer in January of the same year as his father’s diagnosis. Four surgeries later, Max began riding in the PMC in 2011, making this year his third time.

Harold rode his first PMC in 2011, rode as a virtual rider in 2012 and is back on the bike this year for the 192-mile ride. In regards to his continued participation he said, “I'm a proud supporter of the PMC because it is leading the charge to beat cancer. This year I am riding with Team Lick Cancer, a committed group of riders that know they can make a difference in the fight against cancer. We all have friends and family members that have suffered this dreaded disease and I want to do my part to help.”

The family will be joining thousands participating in the event with the goal of collectively topping last year’s donation of $37 million by raising at least $38 million. To support the family and their cause, go to http://www2.pmc.org/donation.asp and search for Richard Tubman, Harold Tubman and/or Max Tubman to contribute.

About Circle Furniture

Massachusetts furniture retailer, Circle Furniture, offers contemporary, transitional, and traditional furniture. For sixty-years, Circle Furniture’s customers have been offered a wide selection of furniture, choosing from hundreds of styles and thousands of fabric coverings. To learn more, visit www.circlefurniture.com or any one of Circle’s six locations: Acton, Boston, Cambridge, Danvers, Framingham and Pembroke.

About the Pan-Mass Challenge

The Pan-Mass Challenge is an annual summer bike-a-thon that raises more money for charity than any other athletic fundraiser in the country. Founded in 1980, the event now involves thousands of cyclists each year who raise money and bike up to 190 miles across Massachusetts to support cancer care and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since it began, the event has raised $375 million. Find out more at www.pmc.org.