Westshore Relay for Life starting to take shape

What a great Relay for Life kick-off meeting we had last month! We had 25 people show up with ideas, time and open hearts. We welcomed Tom Jelepis as our co-chair and were glad to see many new faces from Westlake and Bay. We already have new committee members and teams ready to get the Relay rolling.

We are excited to return our event location to Westlake High School on May 31-June 1. It allows us to bring back strollers, wheelchairs and a firm ground for our Survivors and all the family and friends. We are working on our theme, but as always it will be full of games and fun to help you enjoy your day with us.

The Bay Choir has offered to sing during our Luminaria Ceremony. What a beautiful way to celebrate our Survivors. We are looking for more acts to fill some of the time slots: bands, dancing, singing, etc. If you or your group is interested, please feel free to contact me at 440-666-0662 or aebrediger@gmail.com.

Our next meeting will be Feb. 13, 6 p.m., in the Westlake Rec Center's second-floor classroom. All are invited. We are looking for more volunteers, teams and committee members to help us bring the Westshore Relay to its full potential. As always we are asking for local businesses to become corporate sponsors, which includes many benefits to your company. You may see me or Suzi Piskur from the American Cancer Society around town passing out information to businesses, but we simply cannot get to them all. If you are interested in helping the cause I will be more than happy to come by and drop off the information.

My family just had the one year anniversary of my dad’s passing and it brought on a mixture of tears and laughter – many stories and remembering what an amazing man he was. It also recharged my batteries to make sure this Relay is successful and honors his memory. I hope everyday that I can make this Relay the event that he hoped for while he was helping me before his passing. I do this for him. 

I have to be aware of my need to grieve and the time I allot to work on this event. But with all the new faces I see, I know I can give it my all with help and support behind me. I plan to double my efforts to achieve something particularly special this year.

I would like to throw out a HUGE thank you to the Westlake Rec Center for housing us the last few years and allowing us the freedom to still be able to have a Relay event even with the constructions going on at the high school. We appreciate you all and will miss working with all of you.

Please note that since our union with Bay came late in the game, some of our signage and materials will still be marked Westlake instead of Westshore for this year. This includes our website. Also, like us on Facebook!