SEQUIM — Yellow brick roads, shimmery red slippers, yellow poppies and the Emerald City make for an impressive show of symbolism.
Cast cancer as the Wicked Witch, and you’ve got an antagonist waiting to be smooshed.
Somewhere over the rainbow — Clallam County to be exact — “There’s no place like hope.”
That’s the mantra of Clallam County’s 2017 Relay for Life, a creative spin off based on “The Wizard of Oz.”
The relay starts at 3 p.m. Friday and lasts through noon Saturday at Pioneer Memorial Park, 387 E. Washington St., Sequim.
Activities, entertainment or themed laps are scheduled for every hour to keep relay team members alert in the wee hours of the morning.
Port Angeles and Sequim typically host separate relays, but this year the cities are teaming up to impact the community on a county-wide scale, organizer Katie Tormohlen said.
The relay aims to raise $35,000 for the American Cancer Society (ACS), which funds cancer research, patient care services and prevention and early detection programs. As of Wednesday, teams had raised $11,727.
Relay activities will include a scavenger hunt, a frozen T-shirt contest, a watermelon eating competition and themed laps involving bubbles, sports teams, pajamas, wacky outfits, crazy hair, dancing and poker.
Two other events promote ACS programs.
The Road to Recovery race invites relay members to race around the track with broom sticks to promote the ACS’s Road to Recovery program, which provides rides to cancer patients undergoing treatment.
For the Mr. &Mrs. relay, contestants dress in beauty-pageant-esque attire and vie for donations with their “beauty, brains and talent,” according to the registration information.
A man and woman will be crowned Mr. and Mrs. Relay 2017.
The pageant raises awareness of the “Look Good Feel Better” program, which provides wigs, cosmetics, skin care and other salon products to help cancer patients feel more like themselves.
Awards for relay, competition and team spirit winners include a lot of purple “relay swag,” Tormohlen said. Think purple hats, knitted blankets, water bottles, coffee, tumblers and sunglasses.
Throughout the relay, entertainers will perform music and dance. The bands include Jimmy Hoffman, Black Rock, Buck Ellard, Johnathans Band and Dreamsicle Band. Dance troupes, such as the Dancing Grandmas and Square Dancers, will also perform.
Friday at dusk, the luminaria ceremony will serve as a way to honor survivors and remember those lost to the disease. Participants can decorate luminaria bags, either labeled “In Memory of [name]” or “In Honor of [name],” with markers, photographs and other memorabilia to represent the individual. A candle placed inside illuminates a “symbol of hope.”
“It’s a pretty somber part of the event but it reminds you why you’re there,” Tormohlen said. “It shows you what you have to do to make less bags on that track.”
A survivor lap also will circle the track. Last year, 41 people registered as cancer survivors for the Port Angeles relay, though likely more than 41 walked, she said.
Currently, 11 people have signed up to volunteer. Tormohlen said the relay always needs people to help with set up Friday and tear down Saturday.
To volunteer or register, visit the Relay for Life of Clallam County’s website http://tinyurl.com/PDN- Clallamrelayforlife.
Relay for Life of Forks is set for Aug. 4 at the Rainforest Arts Center, 35 N. Forks Ave.
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Reporter Sarah Sharp can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at ssharp@peninsula dailynews.com.
