What a great weekend! I can't think of a better way to spend a sunny 18 hours than with friends at an amazing Relay For Life Event! The sun came out at about noon on Friday, set up was at 3pm, event started at 6pm and ended at 12 noon on Saturday and there was not a drop of rain the entire time!
So many great memories I don't know where to start. First let me say that I have only ever participated in two events...Tacoma and Lakewood, so if I compare it is not to be derogatory, but it is simply because I only have the two events to compare to.
It was really strange to not have a responsibility to take care of. For the first time in a long time I got to attend the event and just enjoy it and soak it all in. I can honestly say I didn't do a single thing along the lines of volunteering other than what was needed for my team, and you know what I loved it!
The opening ceremony was wonderfully simple. No TV crews queuing when to start, stop, or where to look, not a long string of honored guest making speeches, it was so great to be told to Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. and then just get down to it! The focus was on the community, survivors, caregivers, and raising money. There was no image to uphold, no one to impress and that in and of itself was impressive.
Team captains would stand out on the track and high five every walker that went by...it didn't matter if they were on the same team or not. Everyone was there to support each other and cheer each other on!
I was so impressed with the team participation. All the tent sites on the field were decorated and all the teams had on-site fundraisers going on. And the youth teams were amazing. Not only were they enthusiastic, but they were well behaved. Not once did they get out of control, obnoxious, or do anything crazy like going through other peoples tents etc.
It was really nice to have the field open for running around and playing. Grace was able to run around at will and we didn't have to worry about her getting run over by teenagers or getting lost in the crowd. She loved being able to run back and forth between the team tent site on the far side of the field to the DJ area to hang out with her Daddy.
The event goal was $125,000.00 and we were over $145,000.00 at the end of the event, and there is still money coming in. Prior to the event the teams had turned in so much money that we only needed a few thousand more to reach the goal...that is unheard of!
There was no quite time! There were live bands, Karaoke and DJ'ing all night, non-stop, something else I'm not used to and I loved it! It was fun knowing that even though I was catching a few hours of sleep that there was still a lot of fun going on. Also, I think it helped occupy the youth teams, that and leaving some of the stadium lights on. Much less opportunity to get into mischief when it is not dark!
I will admit I was burned out by the end of Relay season last year, hurt by some decisions, and I had lost my joy and passion for Relay. I am so thankful that I had the Lakewood event to turn to, to get my joy and passion back.
I can't tell you how many times members of the team would say to me, "this is what it is supposed to be about", or "this is what Relay is meant to be".
I feel like I have found my Relay home, I know I have my joy and passion back, and I can't wait to be at full steam again next year!
Yes there are a ton of great photos, but Mark needs to process them and edit them before I can use them. So once they are ready I will post a few. I was going to wait for the photos before posting this post, but that could be a week or so.
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