It's Sunday morning and we just got home from our fourth Relay for Life with Nancy's team, "Tufts Teal Warriors". This year we participated at the first Relay ever at Windham High School. The American Cancer Society plans to make the Relay for Life of the Sebago Lakes Region an annual event to compliment the existing Relay in South Portland. Our team consisted of Nancy and Aaron, Andi and Dave, Kit and Erin, Kara Shaw, Hank and I, and Nancy's friend, Cheryl Weisman. Money is raised by donations to sponsor the walkers (6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.!) as well as from the purchase of the hundreds of luminarias that line the track. Each luminaria is in honor of, or in memory of, someone with cancer. The event begins with the Survivor Lap at 6:00 p.m. Cancer survivors walk in purple t-shirts with their caregivers. At 9:00 p.m., the lights on the field go off and the luminarias are the only illumination. They line the track and, on the bleachers, there are hundreds more luminaira that spell the words "Hope" and "Believe". It's hard to keep a dry eye as the name of each person with a luminaria is read and the candles flicker in the dark. It's a night of highs and lows...from tears at the luminaria ceremony to laughter as teams walk the track in crazy hats and costumes. This year, the Sabago Lakes Relay made over $22,000 for the American Cancer Society...pretty good for the first year of the event. Here are some more photos:
and at 6:30 a.m.!
a sad footnote: Jennifer Leslie Harris, 48, passed away on Sunday, July 12, 2009, after a courageous six-year battle with breast cancer. We extend sincerest sympathy to her family and especially to her parents, our friends, Irv and Cathy Meeker.
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