Relay on Friday is fun family festival
Teams aim to raise $50,000

Ready to relay! STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER Relay for Life team captains gather for a group portrait at Roberts Point Park, where the event will be held Friday and Saturday, April 25-26. (Can you tell they're ready to fight cancer? Two of them have boxing gloves on.) Front: Peggy Franzen; second row, from left: Julie Moore and Connie Moulton; third row, from left: Sherry Henderson, Monika Czerwinski, Tanya Chambers and Sandra Anderson; fourth row, from left: Beth Owens, Rosalie Johnson, Kristi Longanecker and Barbie Barr; back row, from left: Katy Brennan, Shelly Crawford, Clark Waters and Chris Shanklin. Not pictured: Ken Yarbrough, Tiara Followell, Amanda Hawes, Kristi Littleton and Tracey Gaines. See Page 6A for a schedule of events.

Plan to spend part or all of Friday night at Roberts Point Park at the third annual Port Aransas Relay for Life.

The event concludes nine months of fundraising with a festival that will feature a variety of music, games, activities, food and, of course, the night-long walk.

It starts at 6 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, April 25, and concludes at 7 a.m. Saturday, April 26. Organizers set a goal of raising $50,000 for the American Cancer Society to fund research that will one day find a cure for cancer.

"So bring money," said co-chairman Lisa Shelton. Spectators should be prepared to bid on a wide variety of items in the silent auction and participate in a variety of fundraisers that the 18 teams will be conducting on site.

The festival will celebrate cancer patients, survivors and their support groups as each of the 18 teams has a member on the "track" at the park from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The timing representing the cancer struggle from diagnosis, illustrated by the start of the relay at sunset, to survival, illustrated by the end of the relay at sunrise.

Teams have been putting on fundraisers ranging from babysitting to sing-a-grams and drawings for the past nine months and is responsible for providing an item, valued at $50 or more, for the silent auction. Items range from a hockey stick signed by the Corpus Christi Ice Rayz, gift baskets filled with a wide variety of goods and services ranging from grooming products, candles, soaps, books and more; to a child's painted rocking chair, merchandise, services and more. Payments may be made by credit card, cash or check.

Tickets for drawings have been sold in advance. Purchasers of advance tickets do not have to be present to win. However, a separate drawing, for which tickets will be sold Friday night, will require purchasers to be present to win.

Festivities will include a talent show, singing of the National Anthem by Jenna Ward, entertainment by the Community Presbyterian Church choir and Praise Team from First Baptist Church, Triggerfish, Pete Hartje and Mike Jones, and others.

Children's activities will include a fundraising "train ride" with a "train" made from barrels. Also for children will be an "extreme obstacle course" consisting of seven obstacles that end with a rock wall and a slide. Tickets for that will sell for $2 each.

A hot dog and hamburger dinner will be served for $5 a person, although team members and survivors may eat for free.

Individual teams will be conducting fundraising activities, including the children's train ride already mentioned, popcorn sales and more.

On the serious side, cancer survivors who want to join the survivors walk at the opening of the relay are asked to be at the park at 6:30 p.m. for the distribution of t-shirts and fitting of sashes. The survivors' walk will begin at about 7:35 p.m. followed by the caregivers and allteam laps. Organizers emphasize that times are approximate.

The Ceremony of Hope, featuring the lighting of luminarias in honor or in memory of cancer patients, will be held at about 9:30 p.m. Luminaries may be purchased and decorated at the relay until 8:30 p.m.

A new ceremony, called the Fight Back Ceremony, will feature Todd Hunter speaking at 11:50 p.m. about his fight against cancer.

An awards ceremony shortly after midnight will reveal winners of the fundraising contests and individual team contests.

Then the games, that will take the event to sunrise, will begin. Bingo, hula-hoop, twister contests and more will be held.

Team members will be treated to a pizza and chocolate buffet after midnight to help get them through to the morning.

A closing ceremony will be held at 6:45 a.m.

For more information, go to events.cancer.org/rflportaransastx.