The drop was farther than he expected and the water temperature was initially cool, but John "Shimmy" Shemansik had been through worse.

A 16-year cancer survivor, the Summit Hill resident was the first volunteer in the dunk tank Monday during the 16th annual Zoostock in Lansford.Held at the Sports Zoo/Halftime Sports Bar, the event raises money for the local chapter of the American Cancer Society."The American Cancer Society did a lot for me when I was sick, and I'm happy to give back my time to support such a great cause," said Shemansik, who battled sarcoma as a Panther Valley High School student. "The water is cold when you first get in, but I'd say it settled to around 70 to 75 degrees. It's comfortable."Shemansik was first in the dunk tank, but last was Lansford Mayor James Romankow. The mayor's family agreed to match the first $200 of dunk tank proceeds.Zoostock ran from noon to 8 p.m. and featured music, food and other concessions.Ann Marie Calabrese of Coolbreeze Imaging and host of "Stuck in the '80s" on Magic 105.5 WMGH served as emcee."Our goal every year is to increase cancer awareness and raise money for the American Cancer Society while giving the community something fun to do on a holiday with their family," Calabrese said.Last year, Zoostock itself raised around $15,000 in eight hours and other "Zoocrew" fundraisers brought the total donation amount up to $23,000."We always strive to do bigger and better than the year before," Calabrese said. "We'll know sometime later this week how much we raised."While the event is one day, T-shirt sales and other donations continue throughout the week, adding to the total.Lyle Mantz was first to take the stage at noon.Other performers included Cody Sassaman, Colin Jones with Jason Kuhla, Brad and Luke and the Jersey Cartwrights, For the People, The Brand, Toolshed Jack and

A.D.D."We think this is a great event," said Sam Schwartz, of Tamaqua, who attended Monday with his family. "Everyone has someone or knows someone affected by cancer. This is a party, but it's a party with a purpose."