Relay for Life

This post has been put on the back shelf, but I am finally getting around to it.  On the first Friday in June, the American Cancer Society hosted the annual Relay for Life in Middletown.  This was the ninth year in Middletown.  The family has participated for 3 or 4 years.  Heidi is on the local Relay committee and handles the Luminary tent.  People donate $10 or more to get a lunch-bag sized bag to decorate in memory of or in honor of someone they know with cancer.  (Not hard to think of someone with cancer these days).  The bag then gets a candle put in it and the put around the track at the park where the event is held.  Then, during opening ceremonies, all the bags are lit.  This year there were over 600 bags.

The bags are acquired here:  The girl on the left is Erin.  She records each person's name in the computer to be displayed on a screen at night on the track.

Katie and her friend Cassie.  Several of the neighbors help out each year as well.  We use the wagons to transport the bags to the track.  Each bag also has about two cups of sand in them for stability and for the candle to stand in.  You can see many of the bags in the background.  In the wagon are clothespins.  We pin the bags together that need to be placed on the track with each other.

They have a free kids area with cotton candy, inflatable slide, and other things.  Brain has driven This train for two years now.  The engine is a riding lawnmower.

Here is the track and the stage.  To the left of the stage in the makeshift screen for the slideshow with all the names from the bags.  On the right of the stand in the background is the sign "HOPE."  That has rope lights on the letters and is lit during the opening ceremony.  We used to spell out the word in bags and candles on some old rickety bleachers, but they took them away two years ago.

Tim placing some bags with the "HOPE" sign in the background.  We place BBQ lighters about every 10 feet around the track so everyone can light the bags when it is time.

Another shot of the same thing.  That is our neighborhood in the background.  The family stayed at Relay until about 2:30 AM.  They have people walking the track all night long.

To find out more about Relay for Life, visit the American Cancer Society website link above or go to the relay page here.

Tim