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Luminaries show remembrance and hope.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Bay County Relay for Life - Celebration of Life

A festival of Hope for the living

May 17, 2015       Leave a Comment
By: John Keuvelaar

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This year's Relay for Life was held at Wenona Park and the Friendship Shell. A perfect venue for this event, the Park provided a figure eight walking track along the banks of the Saginaw River with a festival style atmosphere. Participants set up tents and booths for their fundraising activity to raise money for the American Cancer Society and the battle against cancer. While the word, "cancer" brings with it thoughts of fear and despair, Relay for Life brings the message of Hope and Celebration- celebration of those lives that have left us all too soon, those that are battling cancer now and those that have survived.



Hope and celebration is the key.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)
The philosophy of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life is the hope that those who currently face cancer will be supported in their fight, those lost to cancer will never be forgotten and that one day cancer will be eliminated.


Luminaries tell the story of the day.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)


The purpose of Relay for Life is to offer everyone in the community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. This year's event did just that as Teams of cancer fighting participants set up their tent and offered ways for "festival" goers to financially participate through the playing of games, purchasing food items including homemade goodies and handmade items of interest.


Uncle Si had his troops out to fight cancer.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Carnations are always a hit.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)


Team participants took turns walking or running the track and were asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. This was a symbolic request because we know that cancer never sleeps, and never will we sleep until cancer is defeated. To keep the walking fun and fresh, various walking events included walking backwards lap, duct tape lap, three legged lap and more. The band shell featured music throughout the day by many local bands and of course raffle tickets were drawn throughout the day.


Visitors check out the many booths that lined the walk of cure.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Everyone had a great time as these folks dance to the music in the early evening hours.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

HOPE spells out the fun.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

These walkers are enjoying one of the many walking events.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)


The community came out as many families, schools, local businesses and organizations displayed colorful t-shirts, booth designs and other creative ways of showing their support for the battle on cancer. It also game many an opportunity to once again celebrate the life and how much the family member was loved who lost their life to cancer, for others to share the word of Hope having survived cancer and reassuring that word of Hope to those currently fighting the battle.


Judge Keuvelaar, Barb Hayward, Martha Mattee and Caitlyn Keuvelaar (survivor) enjoy some lighthearted conversation while enjoying the event.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Ah, the duck tape race.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Businesses and other organizations joined in the fight against cancer.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Cops against Cancer used the jail to good use.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Treats were a great way to raise money to fight cancer.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)


The event was filled with four different ceremonies spaced throughout the day highlighting different features of the event. At 10:00 am was the Opening Ceremony including the opening song by Adam Gardner-Northrup. At noon was the Fight Back Ceremony presented by the American Cancer Society committee. This featured the signing of the "Fight Back" banner and sharing with everyone how you personally are going to fight back against cancer in 2015. At 5:00 pm was the Survivor/Caregiver Ceremony featuring the welcoming remarks by Sue Lambert, the opening song by Bianca Henika, a Caregiver speaker in Dr. David Cook and a Survivor Speaker in Kristina Ropp. All survivors received a survivor t-shirt and caregivers were then treated to a reception in their honor.

The final Ceremony brought about an emotional and uplifting end to a great day of celebrating life. The Luminary Ceremony started at 9:45 pm. Throughout the day, people placed decorated luminaries along the walking path that they either made themselves or "purchased" from local teams who decorated them for the individual. The luminaries where then lit lighting the path as the evening's darkness ascended on the Park. Tom and Doug Dore sang a tribute to their sister, Denise or "Neise" as her daycare children called her. Denise was lost to cancer in March of this year. Then a Luminary Power Point presentation was displayed showing all the victims, survivors and caregivers to this terrible disease. The evening was then capped off by a walk around the track in memory of someone lost to cancer, in honor of someone still fighting, or in special recognition of someone who has beaten this disease.


The evening Luminary Ceremony brought it all into focus.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

An incredible amount of local sponsors helped make this event a true "festival of life" in our battle against cancer, too numerous to note here. If you wish to find out more about the Bay County Relay for Life, you can find them on the web at www.relayforlife.org/baycountymi. You may also call for current cancer information at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

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John Keuvelaar

John Keuvelaar is a college student at Midwest Photography Workshops and Delta College.

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