Relay For Life – June 2006

June 2, 2006 – The Canadian Cancer Society held their annual Relay for Life in Kingston at RMC. Stace and I wanted to do the Relay last year but we didn’t hear about it in time. So this year, we got everything started early – although it didn’t seem early enough.

I was volun-told by Stace to be the Team Captain and I’m really glad I did and hope to be next year! Our team consisted of
Myself
My mom
Stace
Rodney
Lori (cousin)
Erin (cousin)
Ashleigh (friend of Stace)
Morgan (friend of Stace)
Val (friend of Stace)
Our team was excellent with raising money! Unfortunately, Lori and Erin couldn’t make it but raised money none the less!

We decided that our team name would be Yellow Angels and attempted to get everything YELLOW! There were some really good other names and themes. Other themes that I am considering for next year:
• Hawaiian
• Family Ties
• Fighting Cancer

Even though we got there (and were set up) before the start time of 7pm, I feel that we could have easily gotten there a few hours before. We had our screen tent, Morgan brought her sleeping tent but I think for next year we should have 2 screen tents. We brought a table and some chairs. Stace dealt some BlackJack throughout the night, which was cool. There was an MC and everything started with the Cancer Survivor’s Lap. We weren’t involved with that which is really too bad…I got pretty sad when they were announcing it, I would have loved to have watched Nanny walk that lap.
For the first little bit, lots of people were lapping. I had to go wait in line to hand in money. ESH! There was a silent auction, a little store and even reps from Avon giving out free mini shoulder rubs and hand massages. I don’t think anyone from our team took advantage of that. I mainly walked with Rodney or my mom. I think I might have walked one lap with Stace. Hopefully next year Stace and I will get more time.
There was some pretty good live entertainment, but we were at the back of the track so we couldn’t see or hear much.
At dusk, everyone there was instructed to start lighting the luminaries. The luminaries were white paper bags with sand covering the bottom. Set inside the sand was a large votive candle in a glass tube. There were thousands of these! After they were all lit, there was a moment of silence and AMAZING GRACE was played. And the water works started! Stace found one of Nanny’s and Rodney and I found the others. We were able to light the luminaries that were bought for Nanny, Uncle Vince and Uncle Gerry. My mom bought one for her great aunt Alice but we couldn’t find it. ☹ I am so glad that Rodney was there to share that moment with me. I do wish (very much) that he could have met Nanny and Papa, but that was very special to me.

Over the course of the night, we all took turns walking around the track, listening to the awesome entertainment and chatted. We brought loads of food. My mom always makes sure that everyone is well fed. Veggie trays, fruit trays, cookies, pop, a whole case of water. The girls (Stace, Morgan, Ash and Val) made a few Tim Horton’s runs. Good girls. At one point, Morgan and Ash went into the sleeping tent for some shut eye. But that didn’t last too long.

Around 3ish Stace, Ash, Val and Morgan left. Partly because it started to sprinkle. I will admit that I was disappointed, not so much at Stace, she had to be at work in a matter of hours after leaving – and man was she exhausted after work that next day. So this left Rodney, my mom and myself. A few more laps and then the Relay Idol started. Most of the singers were TERRIBLE! One dude even wrote and sang his own rap about brushing your teeth. My mom found this quite humorous. Around 430ish, the rain really started coming down, so we pulled everything under the shelter. My mom curled up on the air mattress and snoozed. I curled up on one of the chairs and rested my eyes ;) At 5ish, Rodney and I decided that the rain was getting too heavy and we were burning out. So we started packing everything up and let my mom snooze a little more. We were out of RMC by 6 or 630. It’s a good thing because the track was SO muddy and I was freezing. My mom went back to my place and I headed to Rodney’s with him.

Although I had such a wonderful time and feel really felt like I was a part of a great cause…I do regret not being able to be more organized, and especially not staying until the closing ceremonies.

Next year, we will be in Petawawa and will be much more prepared.

Thank you to all of you who supported and pledged me (and my team)!