’09 Newtown Relay—

On A Relay For Life Team Or Just Visiting,

Getting There Is All That Matters

The most important thing about this year’s Relay For Life is getting there. The communitywide overnight celebration and awareness-building event to benefit the American Cancer Society will take place at Fairfield Hills for the first time since its inception locally, and event chair Necole Salvesen wants to be sure everyone who can participates.

“It’s not too late to join or start a team. RFL of Newtown is June 13–14,” Ms Salvesen said this week. “If you can’t be on a team, just show up. We want to pack the track.”

Visitors and supporters who attend Relay For Life in the hours before midnight June 13 will enjoy activities, games, and entertainment in the 2009 theme of an “All American Picnic,” according to entertainment chair John Voket.

“Right now we’re looking to get even more community members involved in several ways,” Mr Voket said.

“The first goal is to complete assigning entertainment activities for the hours between midnight and 5 am, which are for Relay team and volunteers only, so teams should be in touch with ideas as soon as possible,” he added. “We are looking for uniformed individuals — either military, fire, police, ambulance, or other ‘heroes,’ who will be auctioned off to escort lucky bidders during our Walk With A Hero lap. We are [also] looking for local youth sports players, town workers, politicians and school personnel like principals and administrators to volunteer to sit in the Newtown Savings Bank dunk tank.”

Anyone interested in finding openings on the schedule to plan themed laps or entertainment segments can check the local Relay website, RelayForLife.org/NewtownCT.

“It’s filling fast and there are so many activities going on throughout the afternoon/evening, like our very popular Kids For A Cure,” Ms Salvesen said. “We’ll have DJ and live music, we’ve invited the middle school and high school jazz bands, we’ll have massages, manicures, and plenty of All-American picnic-style food for sale — so don’t bring any!”

Bottled water will be provided at no charge, and regular participants and visitors will enjoy larger tent sites at the new Fairfield Hills location.

“Many families in Newtown are touched by cancer, and many more have ongoing needs related to their treatment,” Ms Salvesen said. “And we have so many cancer survivors who are invited to come and inspire us all, including our honorary chair and co-chair, Ken and Jen Ayles. We personally invite any survivors and their caregivers to join us on June 7 at St Rose for a survivor celebration.”

Volunteers can also continue growing their hair to be cut for the Beautiful Lengths program on the evening of the Relay.

“Cancer prevention and awareness is brought to Newtown throughout the year, but we celebrate and focus advocacy at this event,” Ms Salvesen said. “If you can only be there for an hour, consider attending our moving Luminaria Ceremony beginning at 9 pm, and attendees are asked to bring a photo to add to the Relay’s brand new Wall of Remembrance. And our online auction is live, so anyone anywhere can support our local Relay by bidding on one or more of our amazing auction items that have been donated to us.”

Ms Salvesen joined the 2009 Relay executive committee in thanking corporate sponsors, community sponsors, and volunteers and participants.

Besides providing the much-anticipated dunk tank for the local event, Newtown Savings Bank is extending Excalibur level Relay For Life support in every community where the bank has branches. And in addition to fielding Relay teams in Newtown and Tribury (Roxbury, Middlebury, Southbury), the bank’s Excalibur sponsorship supports Monroe-Trumbull, Bethel, Danbury, Brookfield, and Shelton Relays.

Sarah Zuvanich promises her Cap’n Crunk team will be available for face painting and doing different kinds of hair braiding for young visitors and participants.

“We will also be selling healthy foods like fruit salads for people to eat at our tent site,” she said.

In related news, the American Cancer Society (ACS) invites Newtown residents to play a direct role in improving the lives of future generations by participating in a study that will enroll a diverse population of half a million people across the United States. The results should help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer, and will further efforts to eliminate cancer as a major health concern for future generations.

In Connecticut there will be eight participating Relay For Life events with enrollment sites, three within a short drive from Newtown, which hosted the Cancer Prevention Study (CPS) in 2007.

Participants must be between the ages of 30 and 65, must never have been diagnosed with cancer, and must be willing to make a long-term commitment to the study, which simply means filling out follow-up surveys at their home periodically. To enroll in the study, individuals will be asked to complete a brief written survey, provide a waist measurement, and give a small blood sample at the Relay enrollment site, in addition to completing a baseline survey at their home.

For the first time in more than 50 years of conducting these kinds of studies, ACS is making it possible for participants to complete their baseline and follow-up questionnaires online.

The Relay For Life events listed below, along with one location in the fall, will be the only time CPS-3 will be enrolling in Connecticut this year. While initial enrollment takes just 20 to 30 minutes, the study is expected to produce benefits for decades to come.

Connecticut Relay For Life enrollment sites include Relay For Life of Waterbury on Saturday, June 6, from 2 to 6 pm, at Crosby High School, 300 Pierpont Road; Relay For Life of Bethel on Friday, June 12, 5:30 to 9:30 pm, at Bethel High School, 300 Whittlesey Drive; and Relay For Life of Ridgefield, also Friday, June 12, 6:30 to 10:30 pm, at Ridgefield High School, 700 North Salem Road

For more information or to learn how to become involved with CPS-3, visit www.cancer.org/cps3, email cps3@cancer org, or call toll-free 888-604-5888.