Note: This post is written by Jennifer Blum, the wife of Trustee Michael Blum, who stepped up and captained our team when someone was not able to be as responsive! She did a great job! The team raised well over a $1,000, and I know they have great plans for next year! I have also included a before and after picture of the team!I didn’t hesitate in registering for the Relay for Life Cancer Walk. My grandmother passed away from Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, not to mention how many others I know who have suffered from cancer so it was an easy decision.
Our team consisted of myself, my husband Mike, Bill Gentes, Sherry Perkowitz and her sister Debbie Jones, Dale and Cathy Multer and their three children Brianne, Eric and Christine. We had a team banner with a flag from our Village Hall, purple ribbons to wear, our official T Shirts and all necessary provisions.
The weather was perfect and during set up you noticed teams who’ve been involved year after year, fundraising activities and special areas dedicated to survivors, volunteers, caregivers, and families of those with cancer. We had an 8 person tent, the “Non Alternative Tent” and a 2 person tent the “Alternative Lifestyle Tent.” Amazingly we were located right behind an “Invisibility Tent” whose team changed into their Relay T Shirts thinking they were invisible. To quote our Mayor, “I wish they were at least 21 years old, not 80”
The opening ceremony started with Survivors, Caregivers, Committeemen, family members of those with Cancer and Volunteers. Listening to these stories and seeing their courage just proved how precious life really is.
The walk started with the survivors, caregivers and then each team collectively.
For the rest of the walk, each team must always have at least one person walking at all times, which is not too hard, however the idea of crawling into my bed at around 3 in the morning sure sounded good.. Each lap had a different theme, something such as a Toga Lap, a Patriotic Lap, an 80’s Lap, a Crazy Hat Lap and others. Our own Dale and Cathy wore a tuxedo and her original wedding veil for the Wedding Lap, and of course I had my ever comfortable PJ pants and T Shirt for the Pajama Lap along with my toga, my chicken hat and my Def Leppard T Shirt.
There were so many activities for kids to take part in that it felt more like an overnight birthday party. A bouncy house, a blow up arena where they can bop each other with blow up sticks, face painting, games, plenty of treats to eat and of course, the Park District Pool which was open from 8:15-9:45 for the occasion.
We all took our turns walking, eating, talking, watching Hip Hop Dance classes, Hypnotists, and of course Aerobic Instructors throughout the night on stage. There was also pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and other goodies provided, however we chose to purchase 50 tacos from Taco Bell along with all the other food our team had. Our Mayor was actually heckled while at Taco Bell by a young teen that shook his hand and stated “I’ll never wash my hand again.” 15 minutes of fame, even if it is in the Taco Bell.
At 10:00 the Luminaria Ceremony started. Luminaria is purchased to honor survivors or those who have passed away and are lit after a beautiful speech and bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace. They were then used along with the traditional HOPE sign to light the way for the honor lap leading into a slide show of survivors and those that have passed.
The rest of the evening was filled with music, hope, happiness and an overall feeling of celebration. It was filled with children falling to sleep and dew covering everything you touched. I thought about taking a nap, but for whatever reason, my mind just wouldn’t let me, even though I wasn’t walking the entire time, I still felt like I had to be awake and alert.
As the sun started coming up around 5:00 Sunday morning, we all started to gather our things, wake those that couldn’t hold out and look around at just how many stuck it out for the evening with admiration for the event and those involved in set up. I of course signed our team up again for next year’s since we now know what we can expect and what things we could do to make our team even that much stronger ongoing. The night was definitely something to remember and I hope that someday these gatherings won’t be necessary as cancer will be a non issue. But, until that time, all we can do is think positive and work together on a cure.
No comments:
Post a Comment