Follow the Yellow Brick Road

With a theme like "There's No Place Like Hope" you can bet the event is going to go all out with decorations.  This year in Salem the theme was based on the Wizard of OZ and you definitely didn't miss that when you arrived at the event.  There were at least 3 teams with tornadoes on their campsites, numerous yellow brick roads, and event a tent that light up green at night to be the Emerald City. Oh and don't forget the countless number of Wizard of Oz characters walking around!

 

It was a great event full of lots of activities for children of all ages! We had games going all night long to keep people awake and excited about Relay. One of the major highlights of the event though was the special guest that arrived in the late evening.

Mark Herzlich of the NY Giants visited the Salem Relay to talk about his battle with cancer.  Mark Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma (rare form of bone cancer) prior to his senior year at Boston College.  After deferring his senior year one year, Herzlich returned to the football field to finish out his college football career.  He was signed by the NY Giants in 2011 and started 3 games for the team.  In February of 2012 the NY Giants won the Super Bowl, a goal that the doctors who diagnosed him with cancer never thought would happen.  Not only did Herzlich beat the odds of even running again, but he is now a professional football player.  Herzlich is an incredibly down to earth guy who just wants to educate the public about the importance of fighting back against cancer, even if that means physically fighting back.  Everyone loved getting to meet him and his story was incredible!

The weather was once again perfect in Salem and the participants had a great time. The survivor reception was also a major highlight of the night.  One of the committee members and his band played for the survivors and their guests, and they rocked it! Each survivor not only received their survivor t-shirt and pin, but were also greeted by Dorothy who gave them a small Dorothy figuring in her hot-air balloon flying home. It was truly a beautiful event and as always Salem captured the theme and ran with it! 

The 2012 Salem Relay has already raised over $116,000 and it's chipping away at it's goal.  If you'd like to make a donation and bring Hope to cancer patients everywhere please visit www.RelayForLife.org/SalemVA today.

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Until We Find a Cure

Bedford Relayed with...NO RAIN!

In Bedford it doesn't rain a ton but it almost always seems to rain when Bedford wants to Relay...except in 2012!  From what I've heard this was the first year in possibly as many as 4 that the event wasn't altered or cut short thanks to the weather.  In fact it was beautiful! We Relayed this year at the National D-Day Memorial for the first time this year (last year they were forced indoors) and it was one of the most beautiful Relay locations I've ever been to.  The traffic circle where we set up camp sits at the top of a hill overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains in Bedford County.

This year event had 275 participants on 25 teams, but I think we had closer to 400 people there for the opening ceremonies and survivor lap.  Our theme was "Country Fair" and to really show people we know our theme we borrowed a local hayride to transport the survivors from the survivor lap to the the survivor reception at the school down the hill.  The survivors loved the ride and it was a perfect tie in for the theme.  Local bands/singers played throughout the evening and people enjoyed the nice weather to walk with friends and enjoy the view. 

The glow at the top of the image is the flame in the torch,
the sign is directly in front of the torch.

I don't think I've witnessed a more heartfelt luminaria ceremony than the one in Bedford.  They sell the traditional white bags, along with gold bags that have stars cut out of them, and torches.  These torches are an incredible sight and are truly touching.  The main part of their ceremony is the reading of names.  The event chairs read the names of all the bags/torches at the event, which really brings the reason of Relaying to everyone.  Whether you know a name on that list or not, it shows how much this community cares about the loved ones who are fighting cancer, who have fought cancer, and who they've lost to cancer.

As the sun came up over the memorial, those of us still walking took our final laps and began to packup.  The weather was gorgeous, the participants had a ton of fun, and it was a beautiful event!

This event has overcome some obstacles but they have come out a head, well on their way to reaching goal.  Help Bedford reach goal by donating today at www.RelayForLife.org/BedfordVA

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Until We Find a Cure

Who needs a Curfew when you can Relay?!

When Liberty University decided it was time to Relay this year, they went all out!

This year was Liberty University's first year as a completely separate event and they made sure they made their mark! With great student leadership, this event successfully raised over $16,000 which is about $4,000 more than in 2011!!

Survivors and virtual survivors take the first lap. Virtual survivors are people walking in honor of those who could not attend the event but are cancer survivors! Awesome idea I've never seen before!

It may have been chilly at the event but the students walked all night and played some of the craziest games I've ever seen.  At some point in the middle of the night, I looked up from some reports to see full grown college kids sprinting to the middle of the field carrying their friends in a sleeping bag! Turns out this game they were playing involved locating items at Relay and bringing them to the judge in the middle of the field, and the first team there won the points.  They had to bring things that seemed normal like frisbees, a shoe, etc... and other times it got more complicated like "Bring me the event chair!" and you see the event chair being carried across the field by 4 people.  They had a blast! The dance party was pretty crazy too, and the line for midnight madness was incredible and this year there were leftovers!

We had 464 participants on 48 teams camping out all night in their country themed campsites.  The theme was "Hope Has No Curfew" playing off the curfew that the university has for on-campus students.  Thanks the to the great support of the school these students are allowed to break curfew and Relay all night.  The teams then selected campsites based on countries on a map, then they had to decorate their campsite to match.  The winning team was the team Cool Runnings who selected Jamaica (see where I'm going with this) that was conveniently & somewhat randomly located at the long jump pit.  So they made a bobsled and took it around the track, easily winning the campsite contest. Here's a picture to prove I didn't make it up:

The committee did an incredible job making this a fun event that is sure to continue to grow every year! I only spent about 2 months with them but I'm very much so looking forward to working with them in 2012-2013 from start to finish, I know this year will top last years!

The event is still taking donations until August 31st, make a donation online at www.RelayForLife.org/LibertyUniversity

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Until We Find a Cure

Vinton is PURPLE!

First off I have seriously failed updating this blog, that is what happens when the little free time you have is devoted to wedding planning and sleeping...whoops...sorry

Now on to the post!

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When Vinton turns purple it's not just putting purple bows on buildings, it means

Vinton Relayed April 20-21st, and the weather was perfect! For setup the weather was gorgeous, sunny but not hot, and it did not rain once.  So now when Vinton Relays it's not just a few people that show up to a Relay in a small town, nope, it's more like 600 people show up and they want to Relay! we had survivors being presented with grommets from old American flags, and fireman selling food like there was no tomorrow, and an atmospher unlike any other community Relay I have been apart of.  This event may only be 4 years old but it is already a well oiled machine that can run an event without my help.  The students from the high school show up with their classes during the day to help setup the field, the luminarias are brought in on a flat bad filled and organized, and the committee directs the materials to the right place with ease.

I set a goal for this event but that goal was too low for this community.  We wanted to them to do better than they did in 2011 where they raised $86,275.  Not only did they pass that, so far they have passed it by almost $10,000!!! The event is about $4500 away from breaking $100,000 for the first time in the event's history.  Last year the event had a per cap of about $11.04, this year they are already over $12.00 and probably on their way to having the #1 per cap in the state of Virginia for the THIRD year in a row.  With the way this event fundraises and comes together, it surprises me everytime I think about the fact that it's only 4 years old, that they have been Relaying in Vinton for 4 years.  Yes, many have attended the Roanoke Relay for years but this event is not like the Roanoke Relay, it's a small town Relay with a big Relay heart.

Each letter sold for $250!

Highlights from this year's event:
- Roughly 3000+ luminaria lined the track
- Medi-vac helicopter landed to bring the guest speakers from Carilion
- Every school within the Town of Vinton limits participated in Relay and raised at least $212
- Student liaison on the committee to keep the high school teams more involved
- Passing goal just after the event!

If you are ever in the Roanoke area in the middle of April, check out this event!

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Until We Find a Cure