Relay For Life

As mentioned earlier, we participated in the Relay for Life event in East Providence, RI Friday night.  As a survivor I was being honored by my Son, Daughter-in-law and two Grandsons who reside in East Providence.  They joined a team of friends and created a team called The Roadrunners (coincidentally my favorite cartoon character).  The latest numbers I heard were our team raised close to $9,000 and the East Providence chapter of the American Cancer Society reported that so far they have received $54,000 before the matching that some employers will be adding.  They believe they will exceed their goal of $60,000!  Very impressive. 

Here's a quick synopsis of the event:

It went very well, it was fantastic. We were one of many teams of course and called the Roadrunners! (my favorite cartoon character) We had one other survivor on our team and both of us were interviewed on ABC 6 the local Providence station. Turns out they were participating and sponsoring this year due to a producer losing her Father to Cancer, so the station covered the event for the first time in 7 years!


My teammate was a bit more shy about talking w/o getting choked up, but I was glad to speak out for her and for me and countless others who are survivors!

We did the opening survivor's lap then had caregivers join us for the second lap and I walked with my family specifically my Grandsons holding my hands! That was awesome!

My wife and I lasted until Midnight, we must have walked about 40 laps, especially enjoyed the luminary silent lap which we walked with a bagpiper and drummer playing! Very emotional!

My family remained all night! We had planned to return early in the a.m. and attend at least two or three of the special laps in the morning before the closing ceremonies. It was held on a beautiful football field 3 blocks from my son's house so it was going to be a pleasant walk there in the cool of the a.m. However @6 a.m. we had a terrible thunder storm that woke us up and we ended up not leaving the house. They told the remaining participants to leave that it wasn't safe under their tents with the lightening, but it was raining so hard they couldn't really pack and go. They all ended up huddling in the concrete restrooms away from the chance of lightning strikes. Around 8 a.m. they were able to drive their cars onto the track surrounding the field and load up and leave. My son texted me that they'd be home in 20 minutes and I answered him to bring coffee and eats as we had no electricity! He had to drive to the next town to get Dunkin' Donuts and got the last 2 croissants and a couple of donuts! Seems others had the same idea and their first choice Dunkin' was hit by the same outage!



We enjoyed our participation and won't have the final figures regarding which team won for a few days! Our team raised a lot selling luminaries, procuring pledges from family and friends, selling stars, and having 6 great raffles! I believe my DIL said they added over $900 during the event to their original figure of over $7000!

All in all, it was a very rewarding experience.  We had a celebratory party at my son's house Saturday night!  Guess who cooked?

Nana and I made a wonderful meal that everyone enjoyed immensely.  Here's the menu:

Homemade Avocado Salsa & assorted jarred salsas and chips

Roasted Beef Tenderloin w/Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Honey Glazed Chicken Wings

Grilled Hamburgers & Hot Dogs

Coleslaw

Pasta Salad with toasted garlic vinaigrette

Marinated Mozz balls w/roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes and basil

Corn & Baby Zucchini Toss

Warmed Baguettes

Desserts provided by guests:

Strawberry Short Cake

Assorted Cheese Cake slices

Ice Cream Sundaes

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Picture is of the Beef and Wine Sauce: There were NO leftovers!