Relay Rally is planned for February 24

Rally is all about registering, picking a campsite, and learning about fundraising ideas!  

Quality Hotel & Suites is location for information night; Relay is June 10

There will likely be no fireworks or even a marching band, but the annual Relay Rally to kickoff the Relay For Life fundraising efforts and team recruitment is set for Wednesday, Feb 24, 5 – 7:30 p.m. at the Quality Hotel & Suites on Bruin Blvd in Woodstock.

The Canadian Cancer Society and organizing committee are excited about this year’s Relay For Life at College Avenue Secondary School on Friday, June 10 (7 p.m. – 1 a.m.), and the Rally is the public promotion event to build awareness and to begin the countdown: Ready? Set. Relay!

Sandy Smith

Deb Moss

Committee co-chairs from last year have both returned in Sandy Smith and Deb Moss, and the organizing crew has many familiar faces, but we can always use more dedicated volunteers. Here’s a contact list of sub-committee representatives for you to contact if you would like to volunteer in a larger role yourself. For example, if you have a background in finance, you may want to volunteer for bank night on June 7 (also at CASS). If you have a background in hydro or carpentry, you may want to volunteer on the day of the event with the logistics team as they expertly deal with tents, a stage, generators and other set up tasks.

2016 COMMITTEE

Co-Chair - Sandy Smith   megzmom@hotmail.com

Co-Chair/Mission - Deb Moss    mmoss905@rogers.com 

Sponsorship/Media - Mark Schadenberg   mschadenberg@rogers.com 

Banking – Karen Hume   karenhume57@gmail.com

Logistics - Rick Moritz   rick.moritz@hotmail.com

Logistics - Ryan Noels    noelze@hotmail.com

Luminaries - Marie Bowerman   lbow6974@rogers.com

Luminaries - Tracy Van Vliet    pharmacytemp@hotmail.com

Children’s Activities - Tracey Thompson    traceyt@goodbeginningsday.com

Entertainment - Dan Henry    dan@1047.ca

Registration - Maartje van Wely    m_van_wely@hotmail.com

Survivors - Linda Torkelson     travlin66@gmail.com

CCS Staff - Janis Cunningham   JCunningham@ontario.cancer.ca

CCS Staff - Liz Wismer-Van Meer   lwismer-vanmeer@ontario.cancer.ca

CCS Volunteering – Kelly Jorgensen  kjorgensen@ontario.cancer.ca

RELAY RALLY

Save The Date

Wednesday, Feb 24, 5 – 7:30

Quality Hotel & Suites

The Rally is a terrific venue to register yourself or your entire team for Relay For Life, but also pick up information on fundraising. The registration fee for all participants is $15, but anyone signing up as a cancer survivor to join the Survivor’s Lap is free.

Brochures about cancer will be available – cancer prevention and advice following a diagnosis.

At the Rally, you can select your campsite as the idea of reserving one space on the inside of the track for your team returns in 2016.

Also at the Rally, you may purchase a luminary (The registration fee does not include one luminary this year) or two or five.

The evening is an informal open house format, so you may talk one-on-one to various committee members, sign up as a volunteer, learn about sponsorship or corporate donations, and enjoy the refreshments as supplied by Relay For Life sponsor the Quality Hotel & Suites.

If you are unable to attend the Relay Rally, watch this space for more details on the two scheduled Captain’s Nights.

Ready? Set. Relay.

Canadian Cancer Society

17th Annual

Relay For Life

College Avenue Secondary School – Woodstock

Friday, June 10, 7 p.m. – 1 a.m.

www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

www.relayforlifeontario.ca

Facebook ‘Group’: Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life in Woodstock

Facebook ‘Event’: Relay For Life in Woodstock

Twitter Hashtags: #WhyIRelay #AcceptTheBaton or #ReadySetRelay

CCS Oxford Community Office: 65 Springbank Ave North

(519) 537-5592

Email: lwismer-vanmeer@ontario.cancer.ca

Tillsonburg Relay is Friday, June 3 at Annandale school

Ingersoll Relay is Friday, June 24 at IDCI

Ready? Set. Relay !

C&D Lanes event to raise money for Canadian Cancer Society

Relay For Life is June 10, but many other events raise money and awareness for CCS

Knockdown Cancer is January 23 at Woodstock bowling alley

By Mark Schadenberg
I'm proud of my seven years on the organizing committee for Relay For Life in Woodstock (June 10 at CASS). The event raises significant dollars for both the local community office of the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) along with much-needed money for important cancer research projects which CCS supports.
Keep an eye on www.woodstockrelay.blogspot.com over the next few months for updates. If you're looking for even more details, join the Facebook Group called "Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life in Woodstock". I know, it's a long long name.
You can also register at: www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

BOWLING FOR DOLLARS
I remember the old CKCO TV show called Bowling For Dollars, while Woodstock's C&D Lanes is hosting two CCS fundraisers in the month of January to collect dollars. 
Firstly, 25 cents from each shoe rental this month will be passed along as a donation to CCS.
On Saturday, Jan. 23 (See the poster), it's the annual Knockdown Cancer benefit from 3 - 6 p.m. Proceeds from bowling will go to CCS, but there's much more -- silent auction, penny sale and Country 104 radio on location. 
There is also a fun challenge planned as the Woodstock Navy Vets and Norwich Merchants hockey clubs will clash twice that day -- at the bowling alley and then on the ice in a scheduled Junior C game. Since accomplished bowler Mark Baxter is part of the Merchants organization, I would bet Norwich will win that wrestling match by a pin fall. 
I applaud bowling lanes owners Dave and Carol Skillings for their efforts in raising awareness and money for CCS projects.  
According to the The Woodstock Sentinel-Review story posted below, the national association Bowl Canada this year permitted each bowling establishment more freedom in where it would direct its donation.
“This is the first year that we get to make our own donation to wherever, so it will go right to our own (CCS Oxford community office) branch this year,” said C&D manager Julie Skillings.
 

LINKS:
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2016/01/06/local-bowling-alley-is-getting-ready-to-host-a-fundraiser-for-the-oxford-branch-of-the-canadian-cancer-society
www.canddlanes.com
www.cancer.ca
www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

Canadian Cancer Society -- Oxford County

Relay For Life details:

Relay For Life is set for Friday, June 10 in Woodstock

17th annual fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society to be held again at CASS track
Accept the baton

Accept the baton.

Ready? Set. Relay!

Relay For Life in Woodstock is getting ready for its 17th annual fundraiser.

It is noteworthy that the format has been modified from last year.

Relay For Life will continue as previous years at College Avenue Secondary School, but the date is now set for a Friday.

Relay For Life in Woodstock is Friday, June 10, 7 p.m. – 1 a.m. and both the local organizing committee and the Canadian Cancer Society’s (CCS) Oxford County community office are truly excited about the 2016 event.

See the charts here which note the number of participants in 2014 and the dollars raised and where the financial contributions are directed to various cancer research projects across the country, along with integral funding to local initiatives such as patient transportation to appointments, peer support groups, and other forms of advocacy and education.

Over the 16 years, Woodstock’s event itself has collected more than $3 million in total.

As participants registered last year, there was less emphasis placed on teams. Good news for relaying fundraisers for 2016 Relay For Life -- as the focus on teamwork has returned. The CCS realizes that many participants are there as a group, perhaps a family raising money for a relative who died from cancer. Teams are also comprised of church groups, service clubs, co-workers, neighbours and even a collective effort from smaller villages such as Hickson, Innerkip and Norwich. Teams have also been prominent entries among youth, including schools and the always-successful efforts of the local 4H club. 

REGISTRATION FEE
This year, there will be one consistent registration fee of $15 per person. You can register online now.

However, if you are a cancer survivor and will be taking part in the survivor lap, there is no fee to attend and celebrate your success from treatments.

Relay For Life will again be featuring recognition for top individuals and teams, along with a honour for reaching a specific distance goal (number of laps) over the six hours. Accept the baton and stay on the track with your team for the entire six hours.

Theme laps will naturally return again, along with games, which are often organized by the various teams.

BUY A LUMINARY

Many other important agenda items continue, especially the purchase of a luminary to remember someone who passed away from cancer or to honour someone still battling the disease. Luminaries will be sold in public locations and through various churches leading up to Relay, and by the month of May at the Saturday morning fairgrounds farm market.

Musicians on the stage will entertain the walkers between the opening ceremony and the solemn luminary ceremony and then again until 11 p.m.

Participants can certainly register now online or by visiting the CCS office on Springbank Ave North in Woodstock. After you and your team have signed up, your friends and family can pledge you through online donations.

VOLUNTEERS

The Woodstock committee still seeks additional volunteers for important roles in the main steering committee, so if you can donate a few hours in this capacity, contact the office.

Watch this blog space for more details as the event approaches as there will be a kickoff rally coming up and other significant updates to promote.

Also, if your team has a Relay For Life fundraiser – euchre night, lawn sale, zumba fest, bake sale, car wash, golf tournament, t-shirt sales, barbecue, etc. – simply email your event-before-the event to Liz Wismer-VanMeer and it will be publicized on Facebook and this blog. Also, be sure to ‘Share’ anything you see in the Facebook ‘Group’ page which you feel is excellent information for your ‘FB Friends’ to know about because it could be a recruitment tool to attract even more participants.

Relay For Life. . . It’s A Journey. Go The Distance.

Accept the baton.

LINKS:

www.relayforlife.ca/cancer

www.relayforlifeontario.ca

www.cancer.ca

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2015/06/14/a-survivor-a-team-captain-and-a-volunteer-share-what-relay-means-to-them

https://www.facebook.com/RelayForLifeCanada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK0UsYmBnrY

Canadian Cancer Society

17th Annual

Relay For Life

College Avenue Secondary School – Woodstock

Friday, June 10, 7 p.m. – 1 a.m.

www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

www.relayforlifeontario.ca

Facebook ‘Group’: Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life in Woodstock

Facebook 'Event': Relay For Life in Woodstock

Twitter Hashtags: #WhyIRelay #AcceptTheBaton or #ReadySetRelay

CCS Oxford Community Office: 65 Springbank Ave North

(519) 537-5592

Email: lwismer-vanmeer@ontario.cancer.ca

Ready? Set. Relay !

Thank You to those who made 2015 Relay For Life a success

Looking back
A look back at 2015 before we look forward to 2016's Relay For Life in Woodstock

Contact Info for 2016

Relay For Life

Giving of your time; giving of your money to cancer research

Corporate donations and hundreds of volunteers at Relay
Beginning with the dozens upon dozens of volunteers, congratulations on making the 2015 Relay For Life in Woodstock so successful.
The committee realizes that more than 98% of participants are truly volunteers at Relay and everyone answers the question: #WhyIRelay.
Volunteers are needed in various capacities with registrations and selling luminaries. Volunteers set up the track at CASS by building a stage, unfolding tents, wiring up generators and plugging in the sound system. Volunteers are everywhere in the food tent and many more were inside CASS preparing caesar salad or cutting lasagna trays. Volunteers are everywhere! We thank the Woodstock Camera Club, Lions Club, CASS students, Shrine clowns, Fanshawe College, and Woodstock Police colour guard. Music performers Terry Empey, Them Again and The Grapes entertained.
Participants are also volunteers as you collect pledges and raise important dollars through various other projects such as bake sales and garage sales.

Relay For Life is successful thanks to many corporate donors and in-kind assistance from businesses and the City of Woodstock. From overall event sponsor Western General (Economical insurance), to Kinsdale Carriers as luminary sponsor, to media sponsors Heart FM and The Sentinel-Review, -- the Canadian Cancer Society is grateful to everyone listed on this ad along with anyone that may have been forgotten.
Look at the list of contributors on the ad and support those who support the CCS.
See you in 2016 !
However, continue to watch this space for updates and news about Relay For Life.

If you have any comments or suggestions, send them to Liz Wismer-VanMeer at: lwismer-vanmeer@ontario.cancer.ca
By the way, the committee is also always looking for more volunteer assistance.

Countdown to Relay For Life 2015

Accept the baton
Still time to sign up for Relay For Life in Woodstock

By Mark Schadenberg

Relay For Life steering committee

The slogan might be 'Accept The Baton', but for the Canadian Cancer Society's (CCS) Relay For Life, the motto could read 'accept the challenge.'

The challenge is to raise money for cancer research projects in an effort to find a cure. The CCS has many additional challenges, however.

Relay For Life in Woodstock is Saturday, June 13, 6 p.m. - midnight at College Avenue Secondary School. Registrations begin at 4 p.m. and dinner is served, beginning at 5 p.m. The infield of the CASS track will still resemble a tent city, but there is no formal numbering and site designations this year.

As can be seen, the format has been modified from previous years, but the challenge remains the same.

“Statistics note that 210 Canadians die every single day from cancer,” notes Jan Cunningham, manager of the Oxford community CCS office.

The CCS in Oxford has about 1,200 volunteers in total, adds Cunningham, many working to make Relay For Life in Woodstock, Tillsonburg (June 6) and Ingersoll (June 19) successful, but the organization also has, for example, 70 volunteer drivers who escort patients to doctors appointment and chemotherapy sessions.

“Relay For Life is the signature event in Ontario for the cancer society,” says Cunningham.

Cancer research is only a small part of where Relay For Life dollars are directed, however, as there is also advocacy and education.

“Cancer prevention is important,” continues Cunningham. “We know that about half of all cancers can be prevented. We encourage screening and early detection too. People can know that our office is there for you to come in and talk to us.”

The CCS office is at 65 Springbank Ave North in Woodstock (519 537-5592) and the national websites of www.cancer.ca www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock are also an integral resource.

Relay For Life in Woodstock is a 6-hour walk this year after previously organized as an all-night walk for participants.

Everybody at Relay this year must register. The fee is $25 if you have not registered by an earlier date, but this includes the meal. Survivors, by the way, register for $10.

“There's still time to register,” says Cunningham. “You can register online and set your modest fundraising goal.

“We also value all our volunteers and it's not too late to sign up as a Relay volunteer.”

All participants and volunteers will be fed, so there is a separate sub-committee for the food tent where coordinating for a crowd of more than 500 is complex, but made easier from sponsors Boston Pizza, Swiss Chalet, Pita Hut, Joe's Lunch, No Frills, and of course Tim Horton's.

“It's a challenge organizing the food for such a large group,” says Deb Sutherland. “We have quite a list – our own logistics checklist as we plan our volunteers to set up, pick up supplies, serve the food and of course clean up.”

Sutherland joined the organization of Relay For Life because both her mom and a sister-in-law died from cancer.

“I just wanted to help out. We're all trying to find a cure. Everybody is touched by cancer in some way,” Sutherland says.

Relay For Life also includes a solemn Luminary ceremony at 8:45 to remember those who have passed away from cancer, but also to recognize survivors. Luminaries are $5 and can be purchased online and also at the event. The Luminary committee sponsor is Kinsdale Carriers again this year, while sponsors for the word 'HOPE' as it is changed to 'CURE' during the ceremony area Oxford Gardens retirement home, Smith-LeRoy Funeral Home and McFarlan Rowlands insurance. 

On stage entertainment keeps the feet moving around the track with well-known local band Green Onions, along with George Straight cover singer Terry Empey among those in the night's lineup.

Relay For Life: Ready? Set. Walk!

Green Onions

LINKS:

www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

www.cancer.ca

www.woodstockrelay.blogspot.com

http://www.cancer.ca/~/media/cancer.ca/CW/publications/Reduce%20your%20risk%20skin%20cancer/Skin-RYR-2012-EN.pdf

LINK TO: Sentinel-Review final promotion story:
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2015/06/09/relay-for-life-preparations-underway-for-the-2015-event-at-college-ave-secondary-school

Wismer returns (for one morning) to Heart FM airwaves

Drive-Thru Pledge-A-Thon held at studios of 104.7 FM

Liz Wismer-VanMeer is no longer the co-star of the morning show on Heart FM (104.7 FM) in Woodstock, but the Canadian Cancer Society fundraising coordinator continued with her 8th annual drive-thru pledge-a-thon in the radio station's parking lot on June 5, 6 - 9 a.m.
Promoting Relay For Life (June 13 at CASS) on the radio was a natural extension to her broadcasting on Heart FM and is now a way to gain additional recognition for CCS wearing her new hat.
Pictured is Liz Wismer-VanMeer and CCS Oxford community office manager Jan Cunningham during today's pledge-a-thon. Many thanks to all contributors and also to Tim Horton's.

Don't forget another annual lead-up to Relay fundraiser is the barbecue at Woodstock Print & Litho on Springbank Ave South on Friday, June 12.
Call in your advance orders at 519 537-6239.  

Don't forget Bank Night is on Tuesday, June 9 at CASS. Contact Karen Hume to book a time.
Feel free to contact the CCS anytime at (519) 537-5592.