Relay For Life 2010

May 1st brought sunny skies to our 10th Annual Relay For Life event. Sue Mudd planned a wonderful Celebration Ceremony to kick it all off. I read a part of the poem where each person read a statement beginning with "You know you're a Relayer if..." My statement read, "You know you're a Relayer if you enjoying playing the game Pop the Polyp, you know what a polyp is and you know that if your 50 or over you need to schedule your colonoscopy (earlier if there's a family history)." The finished with turning over letters that spelled out, "Together we can turn CANCER to CAN CURE." Ironic part of my statement was that Pop the Polyp was the game we created at our campsite to educate participants about colon cancer!!!

Later on in the ceremony, 10 Survivors read the stats about our accomplishments over the past 10 years. They are pretty amazing and will be posted soon. Mom was one of the Survivors to read.

Emma enjoyed the Celebration Ceremony. She even got to use the mega phone and purple and white pom poms before the ceremony to shout out to people to come to the stage because the ceremony would start soon! She took a few minutes to warm up, but then she was walking up and down the field with Allison, Sydney and Camden getting the crowd all fired up for Relay to begin!

Lora and I are so proud of our kids and their enthusiastic attitudes about participating in Relay. Here we quickly pose before the Survivors make the way around the track for the very first time, following the Celebration Ceremony.

One of the most awe-inspiring moments of Relay...Survivors taking that first lap. Brings tears to my eyes every time!

Mom (22 year breast cancer Survivor) and Dad (1 1/2 year colon cancer Survivor) are right behind the sign making their way around the track.

Love you Mom and Dad! We Relay for YOU!!

Anson (Lora's husband) and Mrs. Quale (teacher at Emma's school) walk the first lap together.

Love the Survivor shirts this year. The back of the t-shirt says, "I am celebrating more birthdays!" The American Cancer Society's ad campaign states, "The American Cancer Society is the official sponsor of birthdays."

Barbara Larson, my team development co-chair this year, walks the first lap with her family and friends arm in arm.

Julie Gordon, a family friend and fabulous cake maker, walks proudly.

Lora and I are all smiles as we watch our family and friends complete that emotion-filled first lap.

Each year we take a family photo at Relay. This one was right after the Survivor lap. Allison looks wiped out and it is only 10:30 am...we still have 24 hours to go before the event comes to a close! We missed Jeff here. He was at home and came later in the day. He also brought BBQ'd dinner. Yum!

Emma, Sydney and Camden pose with their teachers from school, Mr. and Mrs. Quale.

After Allison made her pledge to exercise to keep cancer away, she signed the Fight Back banner all by herself.

After Emma, Allison and Sydney made their Fight Back pledges and signed the banner, they grabbed their Fight Back flags and planted them in the Fight Back garden.

Then it was off to play Pop the Polyp at our campsite. I traced a large intestine on a board and mom and dad painted it. They we stapled balloons to the board. Participants threw darts at the board to "pop the polyp" and when they popped on, they received a message about colon cancer from their balloon. Our game was even featured in the slide show of pictures covered in the newspaper! Check it out! http://tracypress.com/view/full_story/7272277/article-Walking-with-a-purpose-? Mom and Dad are even featured as walkers during the Survivor lap too!

Time for more lemonade! Emma and Sydney sold more lemonade at Relay. We positioned the stand near the track so walkers could stop by for some refreshments. They raised another $125 to add to their still growing total!!

A little advertisement was needed to get the stand going. Shandley helped with this. He was great at calling people to come over for some fresh, cold lemonade. Brady loved being able to shout out to the walkers too. He's a great salesman!

Grandpa buys a glass of lemonade from Em.

Mr. Brown, my biology teacher from high school, is a cancer survivor that came down to buy some lemonade.

The girls took a lunch break after selling. It was a warm day and they needed to recharge their batteries!

Time to get back to the sales...but first Emma had to take a picture by her lemonade stand. She didn't last too much longer selling at this point. It was time to see what else there was to see at the event.

One thing to see at the event is all the spirited walkers that dress up for each of the teamed laps. This lap happened to be the Bizarre Bra lap. Participants were encouraged to dress up their bras to bring attention to breast cancer and the need for early detection through self exams and mamography. Loved these bras...they all had a fruit theme to them! Sue Mudd is very creative when it comes to incorporating the Mission of the American Cancer Society into all she does!

In the afternoon, Keith, Danielle and the girls drove down to take part in Relay. Brynn was so excited to help Emma sell lemonade! She enjoyed making new batches of it.

These girls know how to Relay!!! Kiley, Emma and Brynn are dressed in the Power of Purple!

Because the weather was so warm, our team was able to sell the ice cream sundaes we planned for. Last year we didn't get to sell them because it rained! People aren't very willing to eat ice cream in the rain...but the warm sunshine is a different game all together. We sold out in about 30 minutes and made an additional $200 for our team. Allison was eager to lend a hand. She though she would pull the cart full of sundae makings all around the field!

This was the ice cream selling crew: Earl and his wife, Phillip, Kim, Syndey, Emma, Allison and me!

After ice cream, it was time to head over to the purple finger nail painting booth. Allison was so tired she was about to fall asleep as she got her nails painted. Then about 1 1/2 hours later she peeled it all off!

It was very nice for Kieth and Danielle to come down with the girls. They had lots of fun before heading back home later that afternoon.

Here's our team photo, Remember R3. We honor my Uncle Bobby who passed away from esophageal cancer in 2003.

Kim donated her hair again. She's donated many inches to Beautiful Lengths. It is a company that works closely with the American Cancer Society to provide wigs to those undergoing treatment. Emma donated her hair in 2008 and Allison donated hers for her very first haircut in 2009.

That Crazy Brown Girls is one dirty bird! She Relays hard core!!!

Now's the time to begin to settle down. The sun has set and we are preparing to watch the luminaria ceremony to Remember our loved ones lost to this horrific disease. Allison snuggles in with Kyle's girlfriend (I can't remember her name!)

Mom, Dad, Allison and Layla make the final walk around the track Sunday morning. Hard to believe that the event flew right by and the 24 hours were fading away...It's standard that after the end of the Fight Back ceremony that all participants make one final lap around the track.

Together, we will find a CURE for this disease! The word CURE was written in luminaria bags. Additionally, the word HOPE was also written. All other bags lined the track and burned through the night as we CELEBRATED. REMEMBERED and FOUGHT BACK!

May 1-2, 2010