Relay for Life: Rain or Shine

What a weekend! As a college student, I was quite used to not getting any sleep all night, but I am normally not running around all day when that occurs. As an activities co-chair, there were many last minute things to be done. All throughout the night, every team seemed to have something going on. Pinatas, balloon toss, grilling, root beer pong, margs, pie-throwing contest, cornhole, and more.

The beginning of Relay started off with a few talks: an introduction by Dr. Rhodes, and two survivors: Annette Smith and Kristen Pullen who told their stories of fighting cancer. Relay kicked off with the Survivor lap, followed by the Care-Giver lap, and the team lap. Shortly following, Amanda Chism's band started the night off right full of energy. There was an Elvis Impersonator contest and one person in particular actually dressed up in full Elvis gear, which was fairly impressive. Andrew Porter and Eric Gustafson braved the rain (after we built a makeshift covering on the stage) and put on quite a show as they always do. Great guitarists.

After Porter and Gustafson calmed the mood a little, the Luminaria ceremony began, remembering those who have died and those who have survived cancer. The ceremony gives us rememberance and hope for a cure. After the ceremony, the night kicked up again when KISS FM showed up. A few give-aways, lots of commercials, and a little music later, they headed out and the midnight movie "Cars" was put on by BAC. Unfortunately, very shortly after it began, the lightening came. Rain did not bother us, but the lightening forced everyone inside Frazier. The movie was no more and many people headed back to their dorms or elsewhere.

Even though the rain 'scared' quite a few people away, the group that ended up in Frazier still had the energy going strong, just like Energizer batteries. Red Bull showed up at about 2 am, which was perfect timing for everyone's second (or maybe even third) wind of the night. Ben Aguilar's band pumped everyone up with a lot of hard rock. Some teams began to sing while making laps in Frazier. Others began to die down, but still had someone walking at all times.

We ended a bit early, at 4:30 instead of 6:00, due to the lack of people still there and the bad weather. The Quad had quite a mess in it with lots of cleaning to be done. Garbage, wet tarps, sound equipment, tables, chairs, and whatever else was left throughout the night was cleared out. Instead of completing clean up at 9, we finished at 6, ending the evening at 6:30 am for me.

Relay is always a great success and even though we were a little shy of our goal this year, the turnout was great, the energy was high, and everyone seemed to have a good time, regardless of the weather. Apparantly god was testing our abilities of what we could handle. Bellarmine can handle anything, as long as we stick together, and Relay is a perfect example.

Pictures: Coming soon!