The Relay Weelend Begins Today

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 This is it. After months of events of fundraising, and many days to get the campsites ready, the Relay Weekend, described as Second Life's most intense 24 hour period and it's ultimate stress test, is about to begin. 

 

Across the permanent American Cancer Society sim, and American Cancer Society2 and 3, track has been laid, along with a few dozen temporary sims : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/128/128/27

 

The opening ceremony starts at 10am SLT, taking place  at the stage on ACS2 and ACS3. "If the regions are full, overflow attendees can land on the American Cancer Society island and watch from the back patio of the Relay Building.."

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society3/20/158/34 

 

 Along the track are various campsites and designer sims, from top teams like the Sunbeamers and Roos With A Dream.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Win/124/67/23 

 

To smaller teams such as Kitsunes For A Cure, led by Mattie Carlton

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Acceptance/196/124/23

 

It's going to be a great event.

 

See you there.

 

Go Relay!

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Relay Track Sims Up

 

 This weekend, yours truly found out the sims making up the track for the Relay Weekend were online and up. There are a few dozen sims, including the American Cancer Society sim. 

 

Some are special exhibit sims, and there's the Royal Ascot sim for a horseback riding event. But most are for the various campsites for the Relay teams. 

 

Among them, that of the Sunbeamers, located at RFL Win.

 

Over time, we will show sneak peeks of various campsites, but none of complete builds until a few days before the Relay Weekend. 

 

Go Relay!

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

SL Video: "Drivers of SL Grid Drive - Bonus Leg 'Relay For Life' (2025)"

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

From Zada Bury on August 4,  "This kind of "Bonus Leg" was happening after the regular drive. It was gone over the "RFL - Relay For Life" Event. I must say, about the massive content from the "old Linden Homes" , I have been pretty done. Also the Computer-memory was appear to be cluttered ... anyway the RLF was für me laggy and not rezzing right mostly." At 0.59 is a certain familiar face. 

 

SL Video: "2025 Balloon Flight over Relay For Life of Second Life 'Magic of Hope' Camps"

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

 From Cynthia Farshore on July 10, "Ride with Cynthia Farshore on the Sunbeamers balloon as she flies around all the campsites of the 2025 Relay For Life of Second Life in this year theme Magic of Hope. Second Life is a virtual world celebrating 21 years now. https://secondlife.com/ Relay For Life of Second life is supporting the American Cancer Society, since 2006 has raised more than $6 million."

 

Relay Weekend Starts Tomorrow

 

 After another great season, the Relay for Life in Second Life is almost about to experience its high point of the year: The Relay Weekend. Described as the most intense 24 hours of Second Life, there are dozens of camps across 36 sims, here's several of them.

 

The camp of Roos With A Dream, the fun-loving Aussies & friends who have done much with the Sunnies.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Win/123/65/23

 

The Meli's Maniacs camp (watch out for singing chickens)

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Remember/125/189/23

 

The Giant Snail Racers, the team behind the wacky weekly races in this virtual world. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Advocacy/44/131/23

The Second Life Cheerleading Squad's huge camp, note the double-helix tower.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Remember/137/125/23

The ever wacky Steelhead Salmons, led by Fuzzball "The Hair" Ortega.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Unity/123/195/23 

And finally the camp of the Sunbeamers, built by Cynthia Farshore and Shockwave Yareach with the help of team captain Rita Mariner and others, "Rita had to drag me away ... to get me to stop."

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Win/122/192/24

The opening ceremonies start at 10 AM, with the Survivor & Caregiver lap at 11, and the team laps start at Noon SL time.

 

Go Relay!

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Relay Track Sims on The Map

 

 One of the reminders of the Relay for Life season approaching it's high point showed itself this week, with the appearance of the Relay Weekend track sims. There are 36 sims in total, including the permanent American Cancer Society sim and it's two sister sims.

 

There's some builds in ACS2 and 3, but there aren't any campsites yet, just markers for the team camps. We won't be showing full-sized pictures of camps while they're still being build, but will be posting an occasional teaser showing a tiny part of one as a demonstration of what's to come.

 

Go Relay!

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Relay Campsites Still Up, For Now

 

 

The Relay Weekend might have officially ended on Sunday. But the campsites are still up. And there are some great ones. The tallest one is the "Helix of Hope," a reoccurring build at the Second Life Cheerleading Squad, whose camp is in RFL Cure. It gets taller every time someone new touches the square to rezz a new piece. It stands over a whopping 300 meters (984 feet) high. 

But they won't be up for too much longer. They will start coming down Thursday, June 13.

 

Relay Map Update

 

 

 It's been a few days since the Relay Weekend track sims went up. And already, the map is showing many of the campsites are already going up. Things are still in the early stages, so we're not going to show pictures of whole campsites, at least not yet. 

Among the various teams taking part are the Sunbeamers, the team of the community the Newser has it's office in.

Among the newer teams is Scorn, which was formed this year and got a campsite as well. 

More sneak peeks as the days go on.

The Relay Weekend is from Saturday June 8 to Sunday June 9.

Bixyl Shuftan

Burn2 Is Coming

 

Today, Gemma Cleanslate reports on the upcoming Burn2. The largest annual art and music festival in Second Life, Burn2 is the virtual version of the Burning Man Festival that takes place in late summer in Black Rock Nevada. The volunteers are getting ready, and smaller events are being planned. And unlike the real one this year, you won't have to worry about being stuck in the mud.

Read Gemma's story in Design.

 

The Relay Teardown Begins

 

 

 Thursday June 15 was "Takedown Day" for the camps at the Relay Weekend track. And so, the builders of various camps began taking their builds down. This included Team Sunbeamers. Checking by this morning, there was little left of the build, save for the ship that was part of both their display and the one for "Roos With A Dream."

 

 What remains in many regions are the roads, the arches marking sim boundaries, and the luminaria. While unconfirmed, supposedly the last unlit one was finally lit Wednesday evening. Most were for someone or a group of people. Others were a message of hope for all.

There were some occasional scattered objects, such as a car left behind, that I was able to drive for a while. Thankfully there were some camps that were still up, at least for now, such as the Cheerleaders' build at RFL Hope. Others were partially left up, perhaps as a last "we were here" message.

For Team ACTS, they took down their camp and left a parting message: "See you next year! Go Relay!"

How long the remaining camps will remain up, is unknown.

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted Pictures

 

 

 From Charlee Shuftan (Charlee Amethyst). Going around the Relay track, she found this amusing scene in the Meli's Maniac's camp, one guy helping himself at the ice cream machine without a bowl.

 

 

And one from the "Quest for A Cure" camp.

 

Go Relay!

Scenes From the Relay Track

 

 

 "Takedown Day" for the Relay Weekend track is tomorrow, and time is starting to run short for those who haven't seen the builds. Among those recommended is the Second Life Cheerleading Squad's camp in RFL Hope. This year, it's space themed, with planets and asteroids floating around, plus a mention of a study that suggests zero gravity may kill or otherwise disable cancer cells.

 

 

 The camp had a great ride in space too.

Ar RFL Inspire was a racetrack curling well up into the air, good for racing cars or horses.

At RFL Journey was an amusement park by Havok Entertainment.

The Burners Without Borders Exhibit in RFL Community.

At RFL Care, a heart-shaped island, with a couple cuddle spots for couples, by Bluezaar.

The Takedown is tomorrow. While some builds will be kept up until late in the day, some good ones will vanish early. So see them today while you can.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Relay Track Sneak Peeks

 

 

 The sims of the Relay track, most of them, are now open. Charlee Shuftan and I took a trip around. While we don't want to spoil the surprise, we can show a few sneak peeks of what lies ahead.

The Relay Weekend is from Saturday June 10 to Sunday June 11

Bixyl (and Charlee) Shuftan

 

The Relay Track Camps Come Down

 

Thursday June 16 might have been the start of the Second Life Birthday Celebrations. But it was also "Takedown Day"for the campsites at the Relay track sims. So many were taken down.

Some had only part of their items taken down, in the case of this one, some of the copyable ones were put together in one group.

Some builds remained up for people to enjoy, such as "Pegasus Journey."

Someone would comment in the Relay's Discord channel, "If anyone sees a random tent in the middle of what was Relay Weekend, leave me be. I am squatting till next year.. Tough seeing all the amazing builds come down. Amazing displays this season all!"

By the late evening, many places were looking bare.

And so, the sun is setting on another Relay season. This year was different as teammate Alleara Snoodle had passed away some months ago. And yours truly had lost someone close in real-life to cancer. But the Relaying goes on. The theme for next year has been announced, "Hope Floats." And already teams are planning for next year. And of course there are the Making Strides and Christmas Expo events.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

The Relay Weekend Track

 

In just two weeks since they were spotted online, the thirty-six sims of the Relay Weekend track have been developed from practically bare (minus the American Cancer Society sim) to a patchwork of builds. The various campsites have their exhibits, and the designer sims are complete. 

Currently the Hopefest events are continuing, and tomorrow and Sunday of course is the main event: The Relay Weekend. The busiest 24 hour period of Second Life, it's been called the virtual world's biggest test in it's ability to handle traffic. While no doubt it sees plenty of crashes and the occasional sim going offline for a bit, considering what the event is about, the well done builds, the excitement, the comradery, and of course the fight against cancer, most feel it's well worth it. 

The Opening Ceremonies start at 10 AM tomorrow, and the event goes on to the Closing Ceremonies at 10AM Sunday to the Victory Lab at 11AM, which pretty much lasts until most everyone has left.

Go Relay! 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

RFL Announcement: Closing Ceremony Awards

The following awards were given at the Closing Ceremonies of the Relay Weekend. More Awards will be made at the "Relay Wrap-Up" later this month.

*  *  *  *  *

CANCER EDUCATION AWARENESS   
Awarded to campsites earning top scores for incorporating information and education about cancer and/or the American Cancer Society into their build.    
3rd    Circle of Life
2nd    UFS Metamorphosis
1st    Inspired Dreamwalkers

BEST THEME DECORATED   
Awarded to the campsites earning the top 3 scores for the all-around design interpretation of the 2019 Relay For Life of Second Life theme: All Aboard! For A Cure!  The inclusion of www.cancer.org information from the American Cancer Society is important.    
3rd The Goreans
2nd Inspired Dreamwalkers
1st UFS Metamorphosis   

BEST WALK THRU   
Top score for Best Walk Thru Experience

TIE for 3rd Camping for a Cure
TIE for 3rd  Questing for the Cure
2nd  SUNBEAMERS  
1st Team Live Wire 

BEST RIDE THRU   
Top score for Best Riding Experience    
Guardians of the Grid

DESIGNER
Awarded for the design team build that captures the essence, reality and scale of the real or imaginary worlds they represent, and truly gives a world to call our own for a brief and unforgettable moment in time.  

3rd RFL Survivor ~ Designed by:  Darkstone Aeon & BB Woodford with the Hope Haven Survivor/Caregiver Support Group

2nd RFL Support ~ RFL Support- Mac Pierce  

1st  RFL Celebrate~ Rex (Archer Mactavish)

EPIC OUTREACH MEGA   
3rd Christmas Expo 
2nd Sci Fi Convention 
1st Fantasy Faire 

EPIC TEAM EVENT Awarded to groups, individuals or teams, who reach outward into Second Life to promote awareness of Relay For Life, the American Cancer Society, it’s Mission, and encourage participation to new audiences.

3rd Inspired Dreamwalkers  An Eggstra-Ordinary Event       
2nd Relay Rockers  Relay Stock
1st Harmony of Hope Life is a Beach  Muddy's Music Cafe  

BEST NEW EPIC
Inspired Dreamwalkers  An Eggstra-Ordinary Event

MC AWARDS   
1st Head Hunters MC
2nd HAMC Renegades/HAMC Texas
3rd Heaven's Vixens

Four Relay Camps

Today and tomorrow, Tuesday June 11 and Wednesday June 12, are the last days the sims of the Relay Track will remain up. So be sure to check the sights. There were four that caught my attention.

RFL Celebrate has a designer build by Archer Mactavish. This "Alice in Wonderland" style adventure will have you going down the rabbit hole, coming across some information about cancer, and more.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Celebrate/224/165/33

In RFL Courage is the Relay for Life Museum. Here, you can find reminders of glories of Relays past.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Courage/132/118/23

In RFL Journey, there's an amusement park with activities designed and made by Nancy Clowes. This includes a "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots"-inspired game. You can get a copy on sale for 300L with the cash going to the Relay.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Journey/130/125/23

For fans of the recently concluded "Game of Thrones" fantasy drama on TV, there's a camp by "Game of Thrones Cooperative Reborn." This adventure has a quest one can go on.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Knowledge/123/43/23

These are just four of the places in the Relay sims. So by all means don't limit your viewing to them, as there are many more worth taking the time to explore.

Go Relay!

Addition:  The "Flood Party" will be sometime tomorrow or Thursday. After that, there will be a few more team events, such as the Royal Ascot horse race by Team ACTS. The Relay Season ends Sunday June 23 with the Relay Wrap-Up at 10 AM.

Bixyl Shuftan