Luminary Sales part of memorable fundraiser

This is story I wrote for Sentinel-Review. It was printed last week.

Relay For Life: celebrate, remember, fight back

By Mark Schadenberg

With candles as luminaries, the word 'Hope' is a focal point on the crest of a hill at College Avenue Secondary School.

By 10 p.m. during Relay For Life, the same light will soon guide the way around the entire high school track.

Relay For Life -- June 15-16 -- is all about the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) slogan's celebrate, remember, fight back.

Hope, therefore, is an important acronym as ‘h’ represents hope, the circle 'o' for hugs, 'p' for progress, and 'e' is for the eternal love for those who have passed away from cancer.

At Relay, these candles or luminaries (placed inside a paper bag) are lit at 10 p.m. and surround the track for an evening of pause and reflection. The oval track itself could be another 'o' for an even larger hug. With the theme of Field Of Dreams for the 13^th annual fundraiser, these hundreds of lights represent the integral meaning of the 12-hour benefit.

The message on the outside of the bag can be a dedication in two ways: 'in memory of' someone who has passed away from cancer or 'in honour of' a cancer survivor.

"Even if you are unable to attend (Relay), you can still purchase luminaries to pay tribute to your family members and friends who have experienced cancer," says Tracy Piett, fundraising coordinator for the Oxford unit of the CCS.

"By purchasing a luminary you are helping the Canadian Cancer Society fund cutting edge cancer research, prevention, health promotion, advocacy and support services." 

The fundraising part of luminary sales is an important segment of the $300,000 projected goal for the Woodstock event.

Luminaries are now on sale for $5 each at various locations and also on-line at www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock.

The co-chair of the luminary committee has been involved in Relay since its inception locally. Marie Bowerman was a co-chair 13 years ago when Woodstock held its inaugural event. Losing two close friends to cancer was the reason she became involved.

"At that time I had lost a very dear friend (to cancer)," said Bowerman. "The next 10 years I was the volunteer co-ordinator (for Relay). For the 10th anniversary I co-chaired again and during that time lost another very dear friend.

"The last two years I have co-chaired luminary (sales). Last summer, I lost my brother. We need to keep raising monies for the research for all kinds of cancer.”

Bowerman adds this year’s goal for luminaries is 2,000 -- an attainable number as sales last year were 1,911.

The luminaries this year have changed somewhat, but essentially continue to be a tealight candle inside a bag. The difference is that volunteer Larry Bowerman (Marie’s husband) spent about 100 hours cutting, drilling and sanding wood blocks, to make the bags more sturdy.

For the overall Relay event, it's not too late to create your own team. The Woodstock goal was 75, but that’s been exceeded with 85 teams registered

The CCS is also registering cancer survivors for the Survivors' Lap, which begins the walk at 7 p.m. after an opening ceremony. Survivors can sign up in advance online, at the CCS Oxford office at 65 Springbank North, by phone at (519) 537-5592, or on the evening of Relay (beginning at 5 p.m.) and do not have to be a member of a team to participate.  

Relay For Life continues to grow. In 2010, for example, there were 39,191 registered cancer survivors in the various Victory Laps across Canada.

Relay itself included 200,900 walkers on 21,147 teams, raising about $54 million.

While there were an estimated 36,000 volunteers, the Woodstock event itself will sign up more than 250 volunteers and has a 2012 goal of $300,000.

If you are unable to attend in Woodstock, but want to participate in person, Relay For Life will also take place at Annandale public school in Tillsonburg (June 8-9) and IDCI in Ingersoll (June 22-23).

FAST FACTS

Luminaries are for sale at:

Woodstock farm market at fairgrounds on Saturday: May 26, June 2 and June 9.

Woodstock Print & Litho barbecue on Friday, June 1, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Along with:

Bank of Nova Scotia, both branches
Rochdale Credit Union

Boston Pizza
Swiss Chalet

Old St. Pauls Church
Church of Epiphany
Smith LeRoy Funeral Home
Brock & Visser Funeral Home
Southgate Centre
On Your Toes Dance Studio
Laidlaws
Woodstock Skating Club office at community complex.