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Autos added to Relay for Life
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| Team members read the Relay for Life pledge together at opening ceremonies Friday in Rand Park at Keokuk’s seventh annual relay. |
Contributions have surpassed $45,000 with more coming in
by diane vance /gate city staff writer
Relay for Life involves a lot of walking to raise money and hope for a cure to cancer. At Keokuk's seventh annual Relay for Life in Rand Park Friday night, cars were added.
Tri-State Area Rat Pak car club brought vintage and newer cars to the park for viewing and voting. Participants could vote with dollars for a favorite car, “Cruisin' for a Cure.”
Bill Carr offered chances to swing a sledge hammer at an old car painted pink and littered with names of various types of cancer.
“Rairden's donated the car,” said Carr. “We want everyone to take a swing at cancer.”
He was with Team Can-cer-vive, dressed in baseball shirts and hats to emphasize their theme “Take a Swing - Strike Out Cancer.” Team members are all cancer survivors or spouses of survivors.
“We had 13 teams this year, down from 23 last year,” said Mary Ginsberg, one of the organizers and a cancer survivor. “It was hot, but we stayed all night. I think it went very well. Our goal was to raise $50,000. We still have money and pledges coming in and have surpassed $45,000.”
Another added feature this year is the Wall of Hope. Relays for Life across the country collect signatures of cancer survivors. Those names will be forwarded to Washington, D.C., and gathered together to form a banner. On Sept. 18 and 20, the banner of names will be unfurled for a national celebration on the hill to promote cancer research for a cure.
Opening ceremonies Friday introduced the teams, the National Anthem, reading the Relay for Life pledge and lighting the flame of hope.
Teams raise money for cancer research by collecting pledges and offering games, raffles, refreshments and items for sale during the relay at Rand Park.
Team Jules went with a M*A*S*H theme complete with an Army cot, tent and camo-painted truck. Team members wore camouflaged T-shirts that read “Fight cancer.”
Yellow T-shirts abounded on the Davis family team, with “Live Strong” on the front and “Fighting cancer one step at a time” on the back.
Team “Rockin' Robin” had robins'-egg-blue shirts with a picture of the late Robin Allerman on the front. Several families from Hawthorne Elementary School participated on the team, as well as church family from First Christian Church.
A team of sisters wore pink shirts in honor of Janice LeMaster of Revere, Mo., who came to walk in the relay as a survivor.
“We came to walk with her,” said Sandy Hill of Kewanee, Ill.
“We planned our vacations around doing the relay with her,” said Betty Crocker of Wichita, Kan.
LeMaster's two Keokuk sisters, Suzan Payne and Kathy Oliver, also walked in support and hope.
Montrose Health Center went tropical with “Luau for Life.” While they didn't wear grass skirts, the paper parasols came in handy in the hot sun. The team offered $5 wheelchair rides around the walking course as one fund-raiser.
Other teams were sponsored by Keokuk's All Saints Church, Bethyl Presbyterian Church of Hamilton, Ill., Community Action and Keokuk Elks Chipper and Putters. Inventive team names included Hands of Hope and Honor Rollers.
Bill and Sharilyn Carr were chosen to light the flame of hope as a tribute was read about them: “Cancer has plagued this couple's family for many years . . . each loss threw fuel on a fire that could only be quenched by throwing their hearts and souls into fund-raising in hopes that those dollars will someday translate into a cure for cancer . . .fund-raising and working to make the Relay for Life event a success became a 24-7 labor of love. . . if this couple's tireless fund-raising efforts could equal a cancer cure, the disease would be wiped from the face of the earth today.”
Karr thanked the crowd for support over the last few years.
A Christmas tree was festooned with purple ribbons, the color designated for cancer survivors. Each survivor who signed in had their name, type of cancer and length of survivorship read as they draped their purple ribbon on the tree. Survivors ranged from a 7-year-old to the elderly with six months to 45 years since being diagnosed with cancer.
“We are drawn by a commonality of cancer - in a friend, a family member or self,” said the Rev. Bill Mitchell in the invocation. “We gather in hope. We walk with one another, some come here still fighting the battle. Bless these walkers and contributors. We pray for a cure and a defeat of this disease.”
With a party atmosphere and plenty of refreshments and food for sale, the activities took off with Nicole Ginsberg singing “I Will Survive” to her mother and the crowd.
As walkers rounded the course to come uphill, show-cars lined the pavement in the shade of the trees.
“We have a good time with our hobby showing cars,” said Ken Lowman of Nauvoo, Ill., president of the Rat Pak. “We were asked a week ago if we could come to this relay. It's for a very good cause and one of our members is a cancer survivor.”
A member of the “Live Strong” team got a haircut Friday during Relay for Life.
“I've been growing my hair for about a year,” said Corinne Pennington of Burlington, formerly of Keokuk. “I grew it so I could donate it to ‘Locks of Love.'”
Rachel Kelly of Hair N' Now Reflections cut Pennington's hair on stage.
“One needs to have at least 10 inches of hair to donate,” said Kelly.
One bystander, Sarah Printy, 12, said she cries if she gets her hair cut two or three inches.
“You're my new hero,” she told Pennington.
Ginsberg said the closing ceremonies with the Rev. Sylvia Tillman were great.
“We let balloons out over the Mississippi River at 6 a.m.,” said Ginsberg. “They had ‘letters to heaven' attached. The whole evening went very well. The D.J., Bob Hopp of Nauvoo, donated his time and did a very good job, kept us going.”
by diane vance /gate city staff writer
Relay for Life involves a lot of walking to raise money and hope for a cure to cancer. At Keokuk's seventh annual Relay for Life in Rand Park Friday night, cars were added.
Tri-State Area Rat Pak car club brought vintage and newer cars to the park for viewing and voting. Participants could vote with dollars for a favorite car, “Cruisin' for a Cure.”
Bill Carr offered chances to swing a sledge hammer at an old car painted pink and littered with names of various types of cancer.
“Rairden's donated the car,” said Carr. “We want everyone to take a swing at cancer.”
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“We had 13 teams this year, down from 23 last year,” said Mary Ginsberg, one of the organizers and a cancer survivor. “It was hot, but we stayed all night. I think it went very well. Our goal was to raise $50,000. We still have money and pledges coming in and have surpassed $45,000.”
Another added feature this year is the Wall of Hope. Relays for Life across the country collect signatures of cancer survivors. Those names will be forwarded to Washington, D.C., and gathered together to form a banner. On Sept. 18 and 20, the banner of names will be unfurled for a national celebration on the hill to promote cancer research for a cure.
Opening ceremonies Friday introduced the teams, the National Anthem, reading the Relay for Life pledge and lighting the flame of hope.
Teams raise money for cancer research by collecting pledges and offering games, raffles, refreshments and items for sale during the relay at Rand Park.
Team Jules went with a M*A*S*H theme complete with an Army cot, tent and camo-painted truck. Team members wore camouflaged T-shirts that read “Fight cancer.”
Yellow T-shirts abounded on the Davis family team, with “Live Strong” on the front and “Fighting cancer one step at a time” on the back.
Team “Rockin' Robin” had robins'-egg-blue shirts with a picture of the late Robin Allerman on the front. Several families from Hawthorne Elementary School participated on the team, as well as church family from First Christian Church.
A team of sisters wore pink shirts in honor of Janice LeMaster of Revere, Mo., who came to walk in the relay as a survivor.
“We came to walk with her,” said Sandy Hill of Kewanee, Ill.
“We planned our vacations around doing the relay with her,” said Betty Crocker of Wichita, Kan.
LeMaster's two Keokuk sisters, Suzan Payne and Kathy Oliver, also walked in support and hope.
Montrose Health Center went tropical with “Luau for Life.” While they didn't wear grass skirts, the paper parasols came in handy in the hot sun. The team offered $5 wheelchair rides around the walking course as one fund-raiser.
Other teams were sponsored by Keokuk's All Saints Church, Bethyl Presbyterian Church of Hamilton, Ill., Community Action and Keokuk Elks Chipper and Putters. Inventive team names included Hands of Hope and Honor Rollers.
Bill and Sharilyn Carr were chosen to light the flame of hope as a tribute was read about them: “Cancer has plagued this couple's family for many years . . . each loss threw fuel on a fire that could only be quenched by throwing their hearts and souls into fund-raising in hopes that those dollars will someday translate into a cure for cancer . . .fund-raising and working to make the Relay for Life event a success became a 24-7 labor of love. . . if this couple's tireless fund-raising efforts could equal a cancer cure, the disease would be wiped from the face of the earth today.”
Karr thanked the crowd for support over the last few years.
A Christmas tree was festooned with purple ribbons, the color designated for cancer survivors. Each survivor who signed in had their name, type of cancer and length of survivorship read as they draped their purple ribbon on the tree. Survivors ranged from a 7-year-old to the elderly with six months to 45 years since being diagnosed with cancer.
“We are drawn by a commonality of cancer - in a friend, a family member or self,” said the Rev. Bill Mitchell in the invocation. “We gather in hope. We walk with one another, some come here still fighting the battle. Bless these walkers and contributors. We pray for a cure and a defeat of this disease.”
With a party atmosphere and plenty of refreshments and food for sale, the activities took off with Nicole Ginsberg singing “I Will Survive” to her mother and the crowd.
As walkers rounded the course to come uphill, show-cars lined the pavement in the shade of the trees.
“We have a good time with our hobby showing cars,” said Ken Lowman of Nauvoo, Ill., president of the Rat Pak. “We were asked a week ago if we could come to this relay. It's for a very good cause and one of our members is a cancer survivor.”
A member of the “Live Strong” team got a haircut Friday during Relay for Life.
“I've been growing my hair for about a year,” said Corinne Pennington of Burlington, formerly of Keokuk. “I grew it so I could donate it to ‘Locks of Love.'”
Rachel Kelly of Hair N' Now Reflections cut Pennington's hair on stage.
“One needs to have at least 10 inches of hair to donate,” said Kelly.
One bystander, Sarah Printy, 12, said she cries if she gets her hair cut two or three inches.
“You're my new hero,” she told Pennington.
Ginsberg said the closing ceremonies with the Rev. Sylvia Tillman were great.
“We let balloons out over the Mississippi River at 6 a.m.,” said Ginsberg. “They had ‘letters to heaven' attached. The whole evening went very well. The D.J., Bob Hopp of Nauvoo, donated his time and did a very good job, kept us going.”
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