Benefit Saturday, May 4 for Chad Fruechte who is fighting Melanoma

Friends and family of Swanville native Chad Fruechte are getting together Saturday, May 4 as Fruechte battles the fight of his life.

Fruechte is battling Stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma.

It’s the second time in four years that Fruechte has fought cancer.

A spaghetti supper, silent auction and bake sale fundraiser will be held in Fruechte’s on from 3-7 p.m. on May 4 at the Royalton American Legion Hall, 103 N. Maple Street in Royalton.

All funds raised that night will go towards supporting Chad, his wife Mary, and the costs involved in the fight against cancer.

The Fruechtes are no strangers in southern Morrison County.

Chad, Mary and family live in Bowlus and their children Dan and Rebecca attended Holdingford High School.

Chad grew up in Swanville and works at TelCom in Clearwater. Mary is a Royalton native and works as a paraprofessional in the Royalton School District, said Chad’s mother-in-law, Mary Wagner.

It will be four years ago in November that Chad Fruechte was first diagnosed with Stage 3 Melanoma.

The cancer was discovered when family members noticed a spot on his head that was found to be cancerous, Wagner said.

Chad had the cancerous growth removed through a surgical procedure, that also included the removal of lymph nodes, Wagner said.

Over the next year Chad underwent a number of cancer treatments, which resulted in Fruechte getting an “all-clear” from his treatment team in early 2022.

But a follow-up PET scan in December of 2023 revealed that Fruechte’s cancer returned, Wagner said.

This time the cancer not only returned, but spread to other nearby tissue and his lungs.

“Proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards medical expense, gas, and the cost of overnight stays,” Mary Wagner said.

Those costs are incurred because Chad makes regular trips to the Twin Cities where he receives his cancer treatments, Wagner said.

In addition to the spaghetti dinner, silent auction, and bake sale, a free will offering will be taken that will benefit the Fruechte, Wagner said.

There is also a GoFundMe page that is raising money for the Fruechte’s that can be found online at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/chad-fruechte-fight-cancer