SEQUIM — Elvis, “Grace” and Henrietta the chicken are coming.
Hundreds have signed up to be with Henrietta — including local Elvis impersonator John Kohlman — and many more will be welcome at the second annual Sequim Relay for Life this weekend at the Sequim High School track, 601 N. Sequim Ave.
The event — which will include entertainment, shopping, running and walking from noon Saturday until noon Sunday — raises money for American Cancer Society research and support groups, and relay participants have pulled out many a stop with pre-relay fundraisers, from car washes to garage sales.
But this isn’t just about money.
The Relay for Life, said co-organizer Peg Buell, builds community spirit by including anyone who comes to the track — as a walker, runner or supporter.
“People can show up at noon Saturday,” and join a team.
“I have no problem with that at all. The more the merrier,” said Buell, adding that 20 teams of about 15 walkers each have registered this year.
“It’s a giant social event. I see people I haven’t seen in a long time; if they’re cancer survivors, I talk to them about how that’s going,” said Buell, 49.
“Several people in my life have been diagnosed in the past year,” she added. “So [this relay] is more personal.”
In Sequim’s first Relay for Life last year, 21 teams raised just under $50,000.
Hoping for $100,000
This time around, the organizing committee members are poised to make the Sequim-Port Angeles area brighter and shinier — if the event hits a fundraising target.
“If we raise $100,000, the ladies will dye their hair pink and the men will shave their heads. I’ll be glad to shave mine,” said co-organizer Dick Larsen, 69.
Donating cash to a relay participant is one way to add to the event’s revenue total.
Another is to shop at the silent auction, which will run from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday at the track.
“Teams have collected donations from businesses and put these baskets together,” to be auctioned, said Buell.
Larsen added that Wilder Auto has lent two Toyota Tundra pickups to the relay organizers.
He urges all comers to bring nonperishable food to fill the trucks’ beds. The donations will be delivered to the Sequim Food Bank.
Luminaria
The luminaria ceremony is another relay ritual open to anyone.
For a donation, you receive the makings of a traditional luminaria: a paper bag with sand and a candle inside.
In honor of a loved one who has or had cancer, you can decorate the bag or have Relay for Life volunteers do that for you. The bags are then arranged to ring the track.
“Last year we had enough luminarias to line the track and spell out ‘HOPE’ in the stands,” Larsen recalled.
At 10 p.m. Saturday, relay workers will light all of the candles, extinguish all of the other lights on the field, and invite everyone to walk a silent lap in remembrance of those who have suffered from cancer.
On the track illuminated only by the candles, a bagpiper will walk, too, while performing “Amazing Grace.”
“It is amazing,” said Buell, “how powerful the luminaria ceremony is.”
All-day walk
Cheri Barnett is one of several relay participants planning to walk through the entire 24-hour period.
“I don’t have cancer. But I know a lot of people who do. I understand what they go through . . . this is one small way I can pay tribute to them,” said Barnett, 53.
Her team is the Postal Pacers, a quintet of staffers from the Sequim Post Office.
Barnett’s co-worker, Bonnie Gallagher, is a cancer survivor — it’s been 11 years now — who intends to cut off 10 inches of her strawberry-blond hair.
She’ll give it to Locks of Love, a national organization providing wigs for chemotherapy patients that will have a booth at the relay. Gallagher did the same last year, and said her tresses grew back fast.
As for Barnett, she’s not worried about getting tired during her 24-hour trek.
“There’s going to be enough of us walking,” she said. “We’re going to support each other.”
The Sequim Relay for Life is the last of the year in the North Olympic Peninsula. Similar events in Port Angeles, Forks and Port Townsend were held earlier in the year.
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Sequim Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
