Attleboro area Relay For Life to mark 25th anniversary
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| Luminaria light up the track at a past Relay For Life of Greater Attleboro. |
The Relay For Life of Greater Attleboro will mark its silver anniversary this
weekend at Norton High School. It will be an emotional time for many of the
participants and teams, who have a long association with this event.
Whether you’re signed up or not for the event, consider joining us this
weekend. All of the information you’ll need about the event is included in this
story, which was published today (June 6, 2023) in The Sun Chronicle of
Attleboro, MA. A fact box on the event is at the end of this article.
The link to the article, as it appears on the newspaper’s website, follows: https://www.thesunchronicle.
BY LARRY KESSLER
For The Sun Chronicle
NORTON --- The Relay For Life of Greater Attleboro, a team fundraiser for the
American Cancer Society, will celebrate its 25th anniversary from 5
p.m. Friday, June 9 through 10 a.m. Saturday, June 10 at Norton High School.
The event will be the first full relay held at Norton High School since before
the pandemic. A drive-thru relay was held there in 2021 because of pandemic
restrictions and last year’s relay took place at Norton Middle School due to
the construction of the high school’s turf field.
The Greater Attleboro relay has raised more than $4.5 million since first being
held June 11-12, 1999, at North Attleboro High School, which was the relay’s home
until construction of the turf field there led to the relay’s move to Norton in
2018.
As of this writing, this year’s relay has raised about $30,000 toward its $80,000
goal. To date, there are 21 teams, 121 participants and close to 30 survivors
registered.
The relay will consist of: an opening ceremony; a salute to cancer survivors,
including a dinner; the lighting of luminaries in honor of survivors and in
memory of cancer victims; entertainment and several other activities.
The silver anniversary event is especially meaningful to the longtime chair of
the local organizing committee, Barbara Benoit.
“I have been involved in this relay for
24 years and still have a team (Carol & Margie's
Marchers) in memory of my mother,” she said. “I feel strongly that we still have
more to do until no one has to hear the words, ‘you have cancer.’ Our relay
teams walk in honor of our survivors and in memory of loved ones, and help
raise money to make a difference.”
Benoit invites everyone, regardless of whether they’re registered, to stop by
to “see what relay is all about.”
The opening ceremony at 6 p.m. will
feature two speakers:
* Jonathan Gardner, 20, of East Bridgewater, a home-schooled graduate, will
speak about his cancer journey. He’s a survivor who has battled Ewing sarcoma
after being diagnosed at the height of the pandemic.
On the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism website, Gardner is described as
“a self-advocate, decision-maker who happens to have autism, with a vision of
helping others any way he can.” The foundation also notes that he’s “eager to
use his passion from his own life experiences to support, encourage and provide
a genuine positive impact to all around him.”
His mother Nancy said that her son “since the age of 13, has had a vision of
helping others anyway he can. Cancer did not stop him from fulfilling his
vision. He wants to share his story and strategies to provide hope and
encouragement to others through their journey of life.”
Gardner is an ambassador for Operation House Call through the Arc of
Massachusetts and is a member of the Massachusetts Developmental Disability
Council. He’s also released YouTube videos in which he discusses his experience
as a way of helping other cancer survivors.
* Kevin Poirier, the former longtime state representative from North
Attleboro, will speak about how cancer has affected his family. His appearance
brings the relay full circle, as Poirier was the guest speaker at the first
relay, when he spoke about losing his brother to prostate cancer.
“They are heroes,” Poirier said of cancer survivors in his remarks in 1999. “It
is friends helping friends, neighbors helping neighbors,” he said of the relay.
The opening ceremony will be followed by the traditional first lap led
by cancer survivors and the annual survivors’
dinner, which will be organized by Waters Church of North Attleboro and will be
served in the Norton High School cafeteria.
One of the relay’s highlights will be the auctioning off of some of the
luminaries created by more than a dozen artists during the “Creating Awareness”
exhibition at the Attleboro Arts Museum during February’s Winter Night
Festival.
A silent auction will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. The winning bidders can display
their luminaries around the track and they may take them home. Some of the
artists are expected to attend.
This year’s relay
also will include:
* A Palagi’s ice cream truck at 7 p.m. Friday.
* Exercises led by Sturdy Memorial Hospital’s Healthy Steps at 7 p.m.
* Music by DJ Joshua Brown of Purple Wave Entertainment.
* The luminaria ceremony at 9 p.m., followed by a silent lap led by bagpiper Jake Dennett.
* A movie will be shown at night, and fundraisers will be ongoing at many campsites.
* Breakfast will be served by Team Ladybugs for a nominal fee from 6 to 8 a.m.
Saturday at the concession stand. Proceeds will be donated to the relay.
* The closing ceremony will be at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The relay draws people from many Attleboro area communities,
including Attleboro, North Attleboro, Mansfield, Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth,
Seekonk and Wrentham, but interested people from any community may attend.
RELAY FOR LIFE AT A GLANCE
WHAT: Relay For Life of Greater
Attleboro’s 25th anniversary.
WHEN: 5 p.m. Friday, June 9 through 10 a.m. Saturday, June 10.
WHERE: Norton High School on Route 123.
WHY: The team event raises money to support research and patient-related
services provided by the American Cancer Society.
OPENING CEREMONY: 6 p.m.
GUEST SPEAKERS: Cancer survivor Jonathan Gardner and former North
Attleboro State Rep. Kevin Poirier.
SILENT AUCTION: The luminaries decorated by more than a dozen artists at
the Attleboro Arts Museum’s “Creating Awareness” event in February will be
auctioned off from 5 to 8 p.m. There will
be no online or advance bidding, but some luminaries can be viewed at the relay’s Facebook
page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/greaterattleboro.
FIELD RESTIRCTIONS: Use of the new turf field at Norton High
School has led to many restrictions, which include: a ban on tents requiring
stakes ( pop-ups only); no grills; cardboard must be put under chairs and
tables.
RELAY FUNDRAISER: The Norton House of Pizza will donate 10 percent of
sales on June 9 to the Mrs. Peacock's Sole
Squad team.
CANNED GOODS: Sensata
Technologies of Attleboro will donate hundreds of canned goods, which are used
to anchor the luminaries. They will be donated back to three area food
pantries: the Cupboard of Kindness in Norton, and to Attleboro’s Second
Congregational Church and Hebron food pantries.
MORE INFO: To
form or join a team, go to: www.relayforlife.org/greaterattleboroma. To volunteer,
contact Jakob Carlson at jakobmcarlson@gmail.com.
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