An emotional award ceremony was interrupted by an unlikely visitor on Sunday.

The Castle family was receiving an award from the township of Lyndhurst in honor of patriarch James Castle, who died of emphysema at the age of 87 last November. The tearful and touching moment came to a halt when a skunk waltzed right out in front of the family.

“They all left me in the lurch. I have a cane,” exclaimed Pat Castle, 82 of Lyndhurst.

MICROBREWERIES:New Jersey cracks down on events hosted by microbreweries

COACHES SUSPENDED:Wayne football coaches suspended after incident at crosstown rivalry game

LEGAL WEED:Waiting for legal weed in New Jersey? It could be months before any vote on legalization

Pat Castle is the widow of James Castle and the mother of Diane Castle, who passed away 17 years ago due to ovarian cancer. The award was being presented to the Castle family at The Diane Castle Ovarian Cancer Walk, which they’ve been holding for 15 years in honor of their late daughter. Pat says the family was “hysterical crying” from the touching gesture from the township for her husband’s community service, on an already emotional day, honoring Diane. Then the skunk walked in.

“The timing was so perfect,” she laughed.

Story continues below gallery.

They later found out the skunk was deaf and blind, which explains its strange behavior. Pat says that James was also blind in one eye and, toward the end of his life, hard of hearing.

“Everyone was saying it’s my husband,” Pat said. A video of the moment shows one of the family members jumping on the mic and saying, “Pop-pop’s here.”

In spite of – or perhaps because of – the skunk incident, the walk was a great success. They raised $10,000, not including online donations. The Lyndhurst cheerleading squad participated, as well, which was particularly touching for Pat, as Diane used to be on the squad when she was in high school.

The DJ at the event even joked to Pat that for next year’s walk he would get a shirt with a skunk on it and the words “Ovarian Cancer Stinks.”