Heather Latter
The first-ever “Relay Reunion” event is being planned to kick-off this year’s “Relay for Life.”
Set for March 26 from 6-8 p.m. at From the Grind Up here, it will be a causal come-and-go event for anyone involved (or who wants to be involved) in the “Relay”—an inspirational, non-competitive fundraiser that brings people and their communities together to celebrate life and to fight cancer.
It features a festival-like atmosphere, involving teams of 10 people who take turns walking, running, or strolling around a track.
“[The ‘Relay Reunion’] is a chance for teams and participants to come out and find out about the theme and activities for the year, talk about the changes to ‘Relay’ this year, as well as a chance to register if they haven’t registered their teams yet,” explained committee co-chair Jennifer Anderson.
She noted the registration fee for 2015 has gone up—from $10 to $20 per participant.
“But anyone who registers at or up to the [‘Relay Reunion’] can register at the 2014 rate,” Anderson said.
“So that’s a good opportunity for them to come out and do it.
“It doesn’t mean they need to start planning or fundraising, of course we want them to,” she added.
“But it’s just a chance to come out and register and get the information.”
Anderson said anyone who does come out and registers will receive a “Relay Reunion” shirt.
“It’s something new this year that we haven’t done before,” she remarked.
“We’re just trying to keep it fresh, new, and exciting.”
The actual “Relay for Life,” which is set for June 27 this year at Fort Frances High School, will be doing just that by moving to a new time.
Instead of the usual 12-hour event overnight, this year the Canadian Cancer Society gave each committee the option of changing to a 12-hour one during the day or even shortening it to six hours.
The Fort Frances committee opted to go with the 12-hour daytime event, so this year it will run from noon until midnight.
Anderson said the committee decided to try it in an effort to make the “Relay” more family-friendly.
“It’s a huge change,” she conceded. “Some people are really intrigued and some people are really mad.
“They like the representation, and I agree with them because it represents the journey and the struggle through the cancer,” she added.
“[But] a 12-hour ‘Relay’ still gives you a certain amount of that—just not through the night.”
Despite the time change, Anderson stressed organizers will be keeping the core parts of the event the same, such as a reception for survivors and the luminary ceremony at 10 p.m.
“This is the fourth year of the partnership with the hospital,” Anderson said, referring to the partnership developed between the local “Relay for Life” committee and the Riverside Foundation for Health Care back in 2012.
It meant with the money raised for the “Relay,” every dollar over its goal went to the Foundation.
“We did well last year, despite all the challenges, such as the mill closure and the flooding and everything else, but we were still quite pleased,” Anderson recalled.
“So we’re always looking to bring in lots of money so we can stay local.”
With the changes surrounding the “Relay” this year, Anderson is hoping there will be more teams, more participants, and more dollars raised.
“We have seven teams registered right now, which is almost half of what we had last year total, so we’re very pleased about that,” she enthused.
The committee will be reaching out to the teams over the next two weeks to get them out to the “Relay Reunion.”
“Even anyone who is interested in volunteering, or if survivors want to come out and find out about the changes, this is really their chance to do that,” Anderson reiterated.
There also will be luminaries available and fundraisers taking place.
“It’s just a chance to get information, network, visit with other ‘relayers,’” she explained.
For more information, visit the “Fort Frances Relay for Life” page on Facebook or call Anderson at 276-4594.
