A Sigh of Relief

Friday marked the start, and the end to Relay For Life of the Cottage Grove Area 2008. I left work around 11. I came home and did a few last minute things, made lunch and Nick and I headed over to the Junior High. It was HOT. It was humid. It was windy. We started helping where we could with set up. There were a few people there, and a few things to work on. By the time 2:30 rolled around, many teams were streaming in to start their set up. It was comical to see teams setting up tents. It was so windy, many tents were not staying as they should.

Fast forward to 5:30. The "DJ" (also known as Stan, from theAlley Church) got there and was set up. We started with the tunes. We had a few large tents rented. They made it up, and stayed, but it wasn't easy. The opening ceremony started a tad late. We had the ceremony. We kicked off the event with our survivors lap, then a caregivers lap and then our "team lap." At this point in time, we were all well aware that severe weather was knocking on the door of the metro area. We had several of CG's finest on the task of watching the weather and keeping us updated. At 7:30 we announced we had about 30 minutes before the weather was going to be rolling in to us, and everyone should pack up and head to safety. We decided to return at 6am for the closing ceremony. I asked the Captain of the police (and friend of ours) if this was dangerous enough we should go home, or could we had to Carbone's for pizza and a beer. Off to Carbone's it was.

Saturday at 4:30, Nick and I got up and headed back to the track. We walked a few laps with our friend Tina. Others slowly started to arrive. There was probably around 100 people that showed up. We proceeded to have our "remember" and our "fight back" ceremonies. We then merged into the closing ceremony. From there, off to Applebee's for free breakfast.

While it was kind of a disappointment that the event was canceled so early, I was exhausted.

Our points of pride for 2008:
We had 54 survivors attend our event. (last year 15)
We had 21 teams excited to be there. (last year 7)
We had 290 participants (last year 100)
We surpassed our fundraising goal BEFORE the event even started. (We are one of 2 in recent history to do that)
We have raised over $45,000 so far (last year 18,000)

I am so proud of our committee for their dedication to getting this Relay planned. I am proud of our teams for their dedication and spirit. More than one person wanted to stay despite the weather, and many wanted to wait it out and come back. I am proud of our community for the support and generosity they showed our event. I was excited and proud to see 54 survivors and their caregivers, and all of their support at the relay. I was and am excited about 300 people wanting to Fight Back against cancer!

Now to start on that list of "things to do after Relay is over."