Photo TR: Relay For Life

[printersdevil78]

Last night/this morning was Relay For Life night in my little neck of the woods. For those who aren't familiar, Relay For Life is a nationwide fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Community members form teams, usually affiliated with businesses, schools or community groups, and raise money through individual activities during a 12-hour overnight celebration that includes entertainment, food, camping, etc. Team members take turns walking laps around a track that ostensibly connects the entire site into one giant anti-cancer community (hence the "relay" portion of the name).

 

I probably haven't done a very good job of explaining the concept, but hopefully the photos will fill in any gaps. This year's theme was "Lights! Camera! Cure!" with a focus on movies. I was there with my Jaycees team.

 

Anyway, hope you have as much fun viewing these pictures as I had taking them!

...but she also won a designer diaper bag filled with all kinds of baby stuff (most of which I've never heard of--she was especially excited over some kind of lollipops that help stop morning sickness or something like that). It should come in handy soon considering she's three months pregnant (though she was pretty excited about that oil change, too).

 

That's all I've got. Thanks for reading!

Kristin may have needed help with her TV trivia question, but luck was on her side the rest of the night. Not only did she win a raffle for a $30 oil change...

Hey Spell Check? YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!

And what's a trip to the movies without popcorn?

I loved that they had a campsite themed to one of my favorite movies, "Rudy."

Hi, Natalie!

These pumpkin Incredibles were some of the coolest things there.

Of course we found Nemo... and he was delicious!

Chocolate, anyone?

Christ United Methodist Church followed Indiana Jones on his search for the Lost Ark (no spaceships here).

While the theming at our campsite sucked, some teams went all out. The local hospital cancer center made everyone who stopped at its "It's a Wonderful Life" tent ring one of the dangling jingle bells so an angel could get his wings.

They decorated the walls with random movie posters. Some more random than others.

Kristin: "You're going to post this picture on that amusement park website, aren't you? Now Diablo Cody's going to think I'm a freak."

 

And I thought my friends never listened to me....

I won this stylish Fox baseball cap... but not without Kristin's help. Seriously, how am I supposed to know the name of the actor on "Two and a Half Men" who plays the dude who's not the dude that Charlie Sheen plays? (It's Jon Cryer, apparently.)

Kristin was completely stumped when it came time for her question ("Who is the TV station's new sports director?"). They took pity on her and gave her a "Seinfeld" coffee mug anyway. For the record, we weren't 100 percent convinced that a fifth grader would have known that, either.

Local TV personalities Lisa Bryant and Dennis Ketterer were on hand to host an "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" trivia contest. I'm on a weekly trivia team with Lisa, so it was quite a change of pace to see her asking the questions instead of answering them.

No, buddy! Do NOT eat the money! We need that to reach our $1,000 fundraising goal (which we did).

Travis seems to be enjoying this WAY too much!

Oh, so pretty...

I feel pretty...

After the luminaria ceremony, we decided to dress Buddy as a girl to compete in the Miss Relay womanless beauty pageant (I told you he was about to play an important part in this TR)!

Regardless of the indoor setting, officials made sure the traditional giant "HOPE" sign remained raised and illuminated throughout the evening.

The Ocean City Pipe Band made a ceremonial lap around the track during the time the luminaria would have been lit had the event remained outside as planned. Some were lit anyway; glow sticks were used instead of candles.

More bars in more places....

Dave took on bingo calling duties from that point on. Looks like Joanne thought he needed a little help....

The crowd picked up a little starting with our second game.

Kaylee won our first bingo. For the record, our theme was "The Goonies," though filling the baskets with miniature Baby Ruths was about as close as we came to actual theming.

The "crowd" for our first game was a little light, to say the least. Keep an eye on the one on the left; he's about to become a VERY important part of this TR!

We did... but only for the first game. After that we gave Travis the rest of the night off.

Would you trust a man wearing a Nestle Pure Life water headband to call bingo?

We also wore badges in memory of loved ones whose lives were directly affected by cancer--both those who died and those who have so far survived.

At Relay For Life, participants may buy luminaria to celebrate the lives of loved ones who have died of cancer. One of our most active members lost her mother to cancer earlier this year. She and several of her family members bought luminaria in her memory for our campsite. Unfortunately, we were unable to light them indoors.

Our on-site fundraiser was a basket bingo every hour from 7 to 10 p.m. People in this area go crazy over Longaberger baskets.

This was our booth. The banner in front was given to only the first 50 Jaycees chapters in the United States to register their Relay For Life teams this year. We really didn't think it was that big a deal when we received it, but a number of Relay officials stopped by to tell us how impressed they were when they saw it.

Normally our Relay For Life is held at the local minor league baseball park, Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Due to rain this year, however, the event was moved to the Crown Sports Center, a former cork and seal manufacturing plant-come-indoor youth soccer complex.

[Homer]

I love Relay For Life events. Except our drag contest had a dude creepily dressed in Red Hat garb. Looked like a successful event.

 

And for those pondering about doing a relay, just do it, its an awesome event.

[VegasCoaster]

Do they not have you walking for obscenely long distances at your Relay for Life or are these the only pictures you took? At Washington University in St. Louis we did Relay in early May and we'd have to have one member from the team walking around the track at all times and then there were some team tents. Maybe not as many of us sat down too much since it was usually below freezing and walking was the only way to stay warm.

 

I do like your version a little more however since its not a test of human endurance, and looks almost as fun!

[dandaman]

I loved that they had a campsite themed to one of my favorite movies, "Rudy."

 

Movie, not so much for me... Jerry Goldsmith score, most definitely.

 

My sister was Captain of her Relay for Life down in Eckerd College in either March or April. She had a total blast and was the only one that stayed up for the entire duration!

 

Oh, and they also had a drag contest too. What is it about these events that brings out the flamboyance in people?

[TheRapidsNerd]

Would you trust a man wearing a Nestle Pure Life water headband to call bingo?

Great line! Fun TR too. The drag part of the relay is a hoot and it's a good bet Terry will have something funny to say whenver he see's this one.

 

Good stuff as always!

[printersdevil78]

Thanks for the positive comments, all.

 

^^^They're pretty relaxed about the "one person from each team must be on the track at all times" rule around here. They'd prefer if that was the case, but what are they going to do if that doesn't happen, not accept your donations? They were even more lenient this year due to the confined space.

 

When we're at the baseball stadium, the "track" is actually the warning track and outside baseline areas. The two years I've been involved with it there, almost everyone is gone by midnight because it gets so cold. Because this was indoors and climate controlled, there were at least two dozen campsites left when I finally left just after 2 a.m. It really was a more enjoyable time in that respect. And yes, I suspect there were some college and high school kids that stayed the entire night. I know I would have if I was young and energetic and didn't have to work the next morning.

[esvadj]

Good report, I found it very interesting to see inside the Crown Building - I ride by there a lot. The Relay for Life events are REALLY big down here also, of course we do not have an indoor arena to move to if it rains, so its always rain or shine. It has rained in years past.