Thousands Of Supporters Carry Relay Past $250K Goal

By John Voket

They came, they walked, they cried …they even carved Spam. And as participants made their final trips around the Newtown High School track Sunday morning, organizers of Newtown’s second annual Relay For Life found yet another cause for celebration.

According to relay co-chair Dawn Escoda, it was already apparent in the hours following closing ceremonies that the local signature fundraising activity for the American Cancer Society (ACS) had exceeded its goal of collecting more than a quarter-million dollars! Relaxing at home Wednesday evening, Ms Escoda still seemed a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring of goodwill in this, just the second year of the relay.

“We haven’t got all the team tallies finished and there’s still money coming in,” she told The Bee. “I don’t think we’ll top $300,000, but we are definitely over our $250,000 goal already.”

At the time of peak attendance, between the highly emotional 7 pm survivor/caregiver lap and the even more emotional luminary ceremony just after 9 pm, Ms Escoda estimated that at least 2,000 supporters graced the high school stadium. Over the course of the entire Relay For Life, a school grounds official estimated that more than 3,000 had turned out, including the 1,009 registered participants who represented 90 official teams.

According to the ACS, the activity began in Tacoma, Wash., in 1985 as the City of Destiny Classic 24-Hour Run Against Cancer. That is when Dr Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, wanted to enhance the income of his local American Cancer Society office.

He decided to personally raise money for the fight by doing something he enjoyed — running marathons. In May of that year, Dr Klatt spent a grueling 24 hours circling the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for more than 83 miles.

Throughout the night, friends paid $25 to run or walk 30 minutes with him, and he raised $27,000.

That first year, nearly 300 of Dr Klatt’s friends, family, and patients watched as he ran and walked the course. By the end of this year, Relay For Life events will have been held in more than 20 countries around the world and in virtually every state in the United States.

As Newtown’s Relay events kicked off around 1 pm Saturday, organizers watched the skies as dark clouds threatened the dozens of families and corporate volunteers setting up tents and booths that would serve as their bases of operation through early Sunday morning. And while monsoon rains pounded areas of Brookfield, Southbury, Monroe, and even other parts of Newtown, nary a drop of rain fell at the high school.

By 4, a party atmosphere began to prevail as the disc jockey alternately played line dance numbers like “Cotton Eyed Joe,” and conducted kids’ games including a Jell-O eating contest, a relay race, and hula-hoop competition.

The mood began turning more serious by 7 pm as a group of several dozen cancer survivors and their loved ones began mixing with more than 100 caregivers for the official opening lap. After several welcoming announcements, survivors began traveling in one direction led by uniformed representatives of the Knights of Columbus.

With caregivers moving in the opposite direction, the groups crossed paths on the far side of the track to the thunderous applause of well over a thousand attendees gathered in the stands. Once the opening lap was completed, the track was flooded by hundreds more participants representing their teams and families.

A little past 9, the lights on the high school field went dark and hundreds of luminarias flickered and glowed around the track, lighting the path for hundreds of walkers carrying candles in memory of friends, neighbors, and family members who were currently fighting, or who had lost their battle with, cancer.

Following the luminaria ceremony, the mood lightened once again as attendees settled in for an activity-filled night. Ms Escoda recalled some of the high points of the late night games.

“The scavenger hunt was so popular that we ran out of tip sheets, and we printed more than 100,” she said. “I think next year we’ll make that event even bigger.”

She marveled as hundreds of volunteers lined up on each side of a huge tug-of-war that crossed nearly the entire length of the football field.

“Everybody loved the open mic show, but we’ll definitely have to start that earlier next year,” Ms Escoda said.

Other events included a pajama lap at midnight, a Spam carving contest at 1:30 am, and a groggy wake-up yoga session as the sky began brightening at 5 am.

Ms Escoda was quick to credit the dozens of organizers and volunteers who had been working increasingly long hours in the days and weeks before the 2005 Relay.

“Every single person who gave a donation, who helped organize a team, or who pitched in in some way for this relay is responsible for our success,” she said. “By this time next week, we should have a good handle on exactly how much was raised and we’ll release that information along with a list of the high achieving teams and all the recognitions that were given out for contests and things.”

The co-chair noted that while the event seemed to come off magically, with few glitches to report, virtually none of the core organizing team had more than one previous year’s experience with any type of large-scale event.

“Until last year, I don’t think any of us ever even saw a Relay For Life, never mind participated in one, or in organizing one,” she marveled.