relay for life!

This year Pascack Valley is hosting Relay for Life on our track, which is very special and exciting. I volunteered to be the captain for the team of juniors that are going to be participating and I am so proud to support such an august cause with my friends. Many people do not realize how much work goes into making sure an event this large runs smoothly and successfully. When I arrived at the first meeting where all of the captains met who was responsible for creating the event, I was stunned at the many events that were going to be taking place on that day of Relay for Life, as well as the amount of people that were going to be participating. The women in charge were very adamant about making sure that no one was ostracized, and there was no limit on the amount of teams that could be created.

As they began to talk about the different aspects of the event, and what we should be telling our teammates, I remained obsequious, and wrote down every thing that was being said. I was overcome with emotion because the determination and strength of these women were expressed to everyone at the meeting, and helped us believe that one day, cancer could be defeated forever. They then began to explain to explain the concept behind "Luminaria bags". I was a neophyte to this topic, and was eager to learn about their significance. What I learned about them was that hold candles, and can be decorated with pictures in order to pay tribute to someone that is currently battling cancer, has survived cancer, or has passed away due to cancer. I thought it was a beautiful way to pay respects to people that have unfortunately encountered this life-threatening disease.

Lastly, the meeting concluded with a tutorial on how to construct team flags. The materials that were given out to make the flags with was a pillow case, which would be attached to a dowel. The women stated that the flags could be as panache as the team desired, and should be creative. Many members of my team are very artistic and have a predilection for decorating and embellishing different kinds of things. Once the meeting had come to a close, I was ready to get my team members pumped about this fantastic event, and I had really become an erudite team captain!