VERO BEACH — Hundreds of people did it in all forms, any way they could to get through the night – walking, skipping, strolling, jogging, even sauntering – along a makeshift track on a grassy field in a show of solidarity for cancer victims and survivors during the 6th annual Relay For Life of the Beaches at Riverside Park.
Whatever style they chose to do it in, 33 teams participated in last Friday’s celebratory evening that culminated a year of bake sales, races, luncheons, banquets and other fundraising events for the American Cancer Society.
The overnight relay-style event, in which teams of people camp out around a track, while members of each team take turns walking around the track for the duration of the night, featured live entertainment, games and the highly touted sweet confections of local Vero Beach bakers Cassandra and Paul Conti, winners of Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” and owners of Casereccio Specialty & Fine Cakes.
“There’s only six calories in each one,” Paul Conti joked of their dark decadent chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter ball dipped in chocolate ganache to form a buckeye, befitting to their “Ohio” tent. “Do one lap per cupcake and you’ll be fine.”
Still, the focus was not on eating or calorie-burning, but on the more serious matter at hand, cancer.
“The darkest part of it is the treatment, going through it, getting tired and not feeling good,” said Ron Miller, of the overnight symbolic walk. He has lost loved ones to cancer. “But when the dawn breaks, the light comes out and it’s a new day. As we walk through the night, we will get tired and it will get tough and we’ll want to stop, but we’ll keep going and we’ll be able to say, like those with cancer do, ‘I made it through the night, the darkness. I fought it.’”
Miller, whose team was the very productive Spanish Lakes Fairways, was one of hundreds of participants. Thirty-three teams raised $75,000 throughout the year by holding a wide array of events including bake sales, obstacle course races, luncheons, breakfasts and jewelry sales. The relay was a way to celebrate, while remembering the basis for it all.
“There’s a lot of energy,” said Miller, whose team from Fort Pierce has raised $75,000 over the last five years. “We walk, we party, we laugh, we cry.”
Food, games, including a bean bag toss and moon bounce, and other activities took place in the infield and around the track, where teams pitched their tents decorated in a way that reflected the character of their chosen state in the “Relay Road Trip Across America” event.
The Maine tent of Team Edgywear, so named after the resort wear line, had a large model of a lighthouse that lit up and emitted a fog-like substance, lobster traps and nets, and fresh blueberry muffins for sale.
Vero Beach Charter High School had a harvest theme for its Georgia tent, with a sign stating Peaches for Sale and participants in plaid shirts and straw hats. A California tent had a surfboard, beach chairs and “Hollywood” sign; and the Alaska tent had a fishing rod and a poster with a moose on it.
Spanish Lakes Fairways had a Texas theme going with highlights of various landmarks in the state. The facade of the Alamo was painted on a drop cloth, stick figures represented steer and the tent offered a history of Dr. Pepper, which started in Waco.
Most on point, a makeshift memorial honored cancer victims with a display of their shoes. Purple ribbons tied them together, with the victims’ names displayed and the words: “You can’t walk so we’ll walk for you.”
The idea came from Maureen Pfeil, of Chicago, who wore her late mother’s plaid sneakers for the walk a couple of years ago. Her mother once supported the Relay for Life before being diagnosed with cancer, and then during her battle with it. Pfeil comes to town each year to participate in the event. This year, she raised $2,700 on her own toward her team’s contribution.
“She shook everyone down for money for the cause,” Pfeil said admiringly of her mother. “In her spirit, I’m doing the same thing.”
The teams were made up of 4 to 45 people. Every dollar counts so whether it was Team Edgywear with its four members raising $3,000, or Spanish Lakes Fairways raising $14,000, there was cause to celebrate.
This year, more than 100,000 Floridians will be told they have cancer and more than 570,000 Americans will lose their battle with it, according to the American Cancer Society. That’s nearly 1,561 people a day.
Mayor Pilar Turner spoke of the community spirit that makes events such as the relay successful.
“We are thinking of all those people who are courageous in their fight,” said Turner, whose sister and a friend were diagnosed with cancer this past year.
Of the relay participants, she said: “They are putting this field to very good use tonight.”
Relay For Life events are held all over United States each year. Three such relays are being held in Indian River County this spring, including one in North Indian River next week in Sebastian, and one in Indian River at Vero Beach High School in early May. Last year, there were 357 Relay For Life events in Florida, raising $21 million.
The opening ceremony featured the Honor Guard followed by Scottish bagpipe player Michael Hyde and the National Anthem followed by cancer survivors making the initial laps around the field. Bands, gymnasts and speakers provided almost non-stop entertainment throughout the night.
The night was brightened by the glow of illuminated bags called Luminaria, each bearing the name of someone who has battled cancer. Some celebrate cancer survivors, while others honored and remembered those who died.
With the glow from the flickering bags came hope offered by inspirational speaker and author Connie Titus.
“Let it all hang out,” said Titus, whose book “Dancing at Daybreak” mixes emotion and honesty with humor. “The attitude and approach make so much of a difference.”
Titus, of Fort Pierce, was diagnosed 15 years ago with rare inflammatory breast carcinoma. She has had 7 reoccurrences, the last in 2010. “I’m like Stage 11,” she joked. “If there is hope for me, there is hope for everyone.”
She said patients should do their own research and ask questions, not to just go along with whatever is told to them by their doctors.
“I’ve taken my own charge,” she said. “It’s a learning experience for all of us.”
