For those in the East Coast USA, Day Two of the Relay Weekend started off with the Luminaria Ceremony, in which group chatter all but ceased and over the radio stream tributes to those who did not survive their final battle with cancer.
Some continued to run, but the majority of the Relayers either went to their campsites or pulled to the side and pondered those they knew who had passed away due to cancer.
Then it was back to the track for the Midnight and early morning hours. Most would rest, but some would continue to be on the track and camps all night long.
Some of us were riding vehicles, or mounts.
People would also buy gear from camps. I was gifted this shirt from Charlee.
And there were campsites and their exhibits to check out, such as the Carousel of Hope.
Eventually came the closing ceremony, the video of which can be seen here (or scroll down).
Cynthia Farshore was there in her balloon over the crowd. The Committee on stage would thank everyone for taking part, and give out acknowledgements and awards for achievements that caught their attention. The top three teams in fundraising were Camping For A Cure, The River of Life, and The Adult Partnership. But almost all of the 199 registered teams contributed something.
After that, some went home to get some rest after being up for 24 hours or more. But many went back to the track.
It was called the "We Don't Want To Go Home Party." There would be efforts to raise some tiny teams to Bronze rank fundraising, sometimes called "Bronzing Parties." One Sunweaver would contribute 5000L to one.
There was one minor irritation that got under the skin of some Relayers. The lap counting website at https://slrfl.maintree.com/ was experiencing some bad lag. So some residents had to wait hours for their distance walked to be calculated. Yours truly would get eight done.
It was quite a Relay Weekend. But while most teams are stopping events, the season is not over. Later this month is the last major Relay happening - the Royal Ascot horse race from June 17 to June 23. And after the official Relay season concludes, there are other events this year to raise money to fight cancer. Next month is the Fandom Con, starting July 19.
Go Relay!
Bixyl Shuftan
No comments:
Post a Comment