Archive: Around Town

"Except for the rain the Tompkins County Relay for Life was absolutely amazing from beginning until the end," said an exhausted American Cancer Society Staff Partner Allison Knoth as she stood in the rain on the now empty Lansing High School track Saturday morning. "Other than the thunder and lightning the participants had fun, the activities were incredible, our luminaria ceremony was absolutely beautiful."

 

Relay For Life is a national American Cancer Society event that local groups stage all around the country. Teams raise money beforehand, then walk around a track all night to honor victims and survivors and raise money for research. This was the 9th annual one in Tompkins County, and the first to be held in Lansing. This year the national organization brought a film crew to record the Lansing event for their national marketing campaign. Deb Mohlenhoff and Paul Marino co-chaired a committee of 22 volunteers who made the event happen.

The event was truncated by thunder storms around 6am Saturday, but that didn't dampen the spirit of the event or the participants. Tents went up on Thursday, and Friday began at 8am as staff began preparing the site. 71 teams of 15 or more walkers began arriving at noon to set up their tents, most of which were decorated according to this year's theme, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road to a Cure."

In her first walk-around Friday afternoon Knoth introduced herself to the teams setting up. She was moved by the theme decorations that included a witch's feet sticking out from under a house, plenty of yellow bricks, Oz figures and countless imaginative scenes and decorations from the "Wizard of Oz" stories. Knoth was thrilled by the effort the teams had put into them, going from one to the next exclaiming, "Look at this! These are awesome!"

Many of the participants were cancer survivors or people currently fighting cancer. Others came because they had cancer victims in their families or among their friends. Jim Drew walked for the Sertoma team, which his wife captained. "My brother Mark had Hodgkins Disease and my mother had ovarian cancer. They're still alive today," he said. "I figure, my sister-in-law is here with us. She has breast cancer. If she can fight that I can try to walk all night." He almost made his goal, walking eight hours until he injured his ankle. But that didn't dampen his enthusiasm. A few days later he said, "The event was fantastic, the people were great. I saw a lot of people that I know, and found out I know a lot more survivors than I thought I knew."

Lisa Farr captained the "Angels for Abby" team with 20 walkers including Abby Sharpless, 10, dressed as good witches. Farr noted that a quarter of her team included survivors. When starting the team four years ago Abby's mother, Cathy, was approached to be part of it. "One of the other members of our team had asked her if she'd like to do it, because her daughter had been diagnosed four years ago with brain cancer," Farr explains. "She is one of the bravest young ladies that I know. We asked Cathy if that would be alright to call it 'Angels for Abby". Abby has walked with us every year. She's in remission and she's doing beautifully. She's a great little girl. They're a lovely family, and our whole team is like that." Team member Diane Meagher agreed, "It's a fabulous cause. I know Abby and we have a wonderful team."

Arianna Lovett is a cancer survivor who was chosen to be interviewed by the National Cancer Society for their PSA. She walked in the survivor's lap and then during the event, and hoped her team would win the costume competition. "I've been to two. I'm going to walk the whole night with my friends. My mom, her co-workers and family members and friends."

Many walkers dressed as Dorothy, woodsmen, Scarecrows, lions and witches, including one Dorothy with a beard! Events included balloon rides, 'Best Wizard of Oz Tent' and costume competitions, a 'Skipping Pajama Lap,' massages, yoga, Salsa lessons -- every half hour brought something new. At 6 o'clock Friday survivors and care givers were served a special dinner in a large tent on the hill above the track. Perhaps most striking was the Luminaria Ceremony, where bags containing candles were lit all around the track. Each one had the name of a cancer victim or survivor on it, and they glowed around the track as teams continued to walk. Personalities from Cayuga Radio Group including Dave Vieser kept things moving on the main stage with music and announcements, including several live bands.

Marion Ferrer with the Oz cake she crafted for the Cargill team

The Cargill team made cake bricks with each team's name on each one to thank them for being in the relay. But more striking was a cake depicting the yellow brick road winding through Oz to the Emerald City, baked for the team by Lansing pastry chef Marian Ferrer of Sincredible Pastries. The cake was Toni Adams's idea. "I just thought I wanted something different, something that somebody was going to walk by and say, 'Oh my God!'" Adams said.

Ferrer recalled, "Toni had seen an article about me and about my cakes. She called me and said 'You're just the person we're looking for.' It was a great opportunity for me and for them, and so we did it." The stunning cake was made of yellow cake with Oreo moose and vanilla bean butter cream frosting. A sculpture of the Emerald City was made of poured sugar. Ingredients included 30 pounds of sugar, 25 pounds of butter, 15 pounds of flour, and 18 dozen eggs.

By the end of the week the event team reported they had collected $180,000 in donations.  Three representatives from the National Cancer Society came to the event, plus two from the Eastern Division. "They loved it," says Knoth. "They said this was a great relay. They said, 'Ithaca knows how to do it right.' And I said, 'Yup, we do.'"

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