Each year, the American
Cancer Society holds 'Relay For Life' events at various locations
nationwide. People form teams of friends, family and/or co-workers
to participate. Unlike a Walk-A-Thon which can take a group of
people from point A to point B, or on a single long loop thru
a town, the Relay occurs on a school track. Except during the
ceremony at 10:00, at least one member of each team is supposed
to be walking on the track at all times. Team members take turns,
sort of like a relay race.
On June 6th thru June
7th, the Society held a Relay at the Mahwah High School football
field. I volunteered to provide the music and sound system for
the event. It was both one of the easiest and most challenging
events I ever did. I am already looking forward to doing it again
next year.
The event was scheduled
for a 'set-up' time of 5:00. This time was for individual teams
to set up tents and that sort of thing. Opening ceremonies were
scheduled for 6:00. I normally arrive at events about 2 hours before
the scheduled start, 4:00 in this case. I got to the school at
1:45 - I wanted extra time 'just in case'. It turned out to be
a good thing. I am something of a freak about hiding wires, it
took a lot of time to run the wires thru the bleacher support
beams. I didn't get the music started until 4:10. Then quickly
made my area look neat, put on my DJ shirt, and I was ready for
the 5:00 set-up - by 4:30.
For most the event I
was playing upbeat music, both old and new, giving the people
walking the energy they needed to keep going. Their energy in
turn kept me going. There were also several times where I was
going to get breaks. At about 7:30 a martial arts group put on
a show and wanted me to play a CD they brought. At about 8:30
a rock band consisting of several students from one of the schools
participating, took the stage.
At 10:00 the Luminary
Ceremony took place. Luminaries are paper bags, with some sand
and a candle inside. They are sold ahead of time and are the
Society's primary fundraising activity for these events. Over
3,500 Luminaries were placed on the edge of the track. The ceremony
began with the field lighting turned off. The only remaining
light came from the Luminaries. About 1/2 hour of moving speeches,
and singing from a school choir. Handheld candles are passed
out, followed by the 'Lap of Silence', and then a couple of slow
sings, starting with, as requested by the organizer, Sarah McLachlan's
"Angel".
It was one of the most
moving experiences I have ever been a part of.
After several more slow
songs, the lights are turned back on, and the handheld candles
are extinguished and upbeat songs resumed. The Luminaries continued
to burn thru the night.
The Relay's organizers
had planned many fun activities to fill the night. These were the
ones that I had the most fun with:
At midnight, it was
the "Cookies and Milk" lap. 
Cookies
and milk were available at each end of the field, I played the
Cookie Monster song, "C Is For Cookies".
At 1:00 the only real
dancing of the night took place as students from one of the schools
involved was prepared to dance several line dances. Of course,
many of the other participants joined the students.
At 2:30 was the backwards
lap. People walked backwards, while I played a couple songs backwards!
At 5:30 was the PJ lap.
I started it with a bugle call of Revile. Then some songs such
as The Beatles "Here Comes The Sun", Oliver's "Good
Morning Starshine" and Blue Suede's "Hooked On A Feeling
(Oooga Chaka)". That last song was something of a payback
to the camp counselors who, many years ago when I went to sleep
away camp, used that song to wake up the camp, every day for
two months! Plus, there were some rather loud attempts by me
to rouse those people who had decided to sleep in the tents.
Yeah, I had been DJing, and standing, for over twelve hours.
I had little sympathy for those who had slept.
At 6:00 came the real
test of my stamina. The organizers arranged for an aerobics instructor
to lead in a 'bend and stretch' session. He handed me a CD to
play. It was very light new-age kind of stuff. While it was perfect
for an exercise class, it was the worst thing for someone like
me who had not slept yet. I then made a terrible mistake: While
this mellow new-age music was playing, I sat down. Boy did I
have trouble keeping my eyes open! Next year I'll walk a few
laps instead.
All in all, it was a
very memorable, enjoyable event. I thank the American Cancer
Society for allowing me to participate, and hope that these events
put us closer to finding cures.
Return to DJ Dave's Worthy
Causes page.
