My Relay is celebrating its 15th year in 2008 and we chose "Blast Into The Past" as our theme. We'll be celebrating the decades. Our teams are encouraged to pick a favorite decade. Our upcoming Relay Rally is themed around the decades, too.

Sadly, I had a youth team ask what the 80s were like. (I was born in 1983.) None of the team members were born in the 80s! 1990 was the closest.

They asked if "Grease" was in the 1980s. Ugh.

Anyhow!

Another theme I heard of tonight was "Holidays." Teams pick holidays and base their campsite around that. One team even went way out there and chose Rubber Ducky's Birthday (you know, Ernie from Sesame Street). I guess the little boy of the team captain is in love with Ernie and Rubber Ducky and it just so happens that Sesame Street has a birthday for Rubber Ducky some time in January.

So teams can really be creative with that one. There's so many holidays, too. Veterans Day (would be good to honor the troops), July 4 (honor the country), Canada Day (honor Canada), Thanksgiving (that team could do a Thanksgiving in March fundraiser -- or any month), Easter (imagine all the fun with that!), Christmas (too easy), Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Tax Day (imagine a team of accountants!!!!!), Cinco de Mayo, Black Friday (if anyone has a retail store team), Super Bowl (hey, it's a non-official holiday). There are soooo many! And there are so many websites that offer some of the most obscure holidays!! So teams could really get crazy!!

If you have a team of school district support staff, they could do administrative assistant's day team. haha! A bunch of married couples could do Valentine's Day.

oooo, and there's Leap Day! That would be fun! If you have a local Froggy radio station, they could be that team!

OK, I need to stop. Before I know it, I'll have run through the entire year (all 366 days this year).

Hope this helps!

Our Theme this year will be "Reasons to Celebrate" and sites will pick their favorite or meantingfull celebration such as Birthday or Graduation or Hoildays

Relay ON!!

Blount County AL

Our event (Wilson County in Tennesse) has had some good themes the last couple of years.  First we had Relay Around the World and last year was Time for a Cure (everyone chose a time/period).  Last year was fun...some people chose seasons, some people chose decades...some people even chose "time" like tea time, etc....it was really interesting.  For this year, I'm suggesting "Relay Your Way" which will be a free-for-all and Once Upon a Cure. I like the SuperHero theme. You could change it to "Come here a Zero, Leave a Hero."

• 50 States – This way, each team can have a state as their theme (thanks to the Westlake Relay For Life): - see 50 States under Team Themes below for ideas for every state!!!!
• Anniversary Themes – These are ideas to use if your event is reaching its 5^th, 10^th, or more anniversary, these are great ideas! See also Time Capsule themes.
• 10 Years Closer to the Cure – Have your teams have “cure” and “cancer related” themes… This one has a lot of flexibility! (thanks to Mary Ann Hocking)
• 10 Years of Love, Hope, Relay – Have your teams have Love or Hope related themes…. (thanks to Mary Ann Hocking)
• "10 Years Of Working For A Cure" - You can have each team have a theme that reflects where they work... For example, I used to work in a dept. that made Powdered cosmetics, so we called ourselves the Powder Puffs, and decorated ourselves with cosmetic puffs... Get the idea? (From Ramesh Moorthy, Baltimore MD)
• "10 Years of Dancing for A Cure" - You could have "dancing themes" for each team. (From Ramesh Moorthy, Baltimore MD)
• “Happy Birthday, Relay!” – Thanks to ‘the4blairs’ for the inspiration for this theme! Dress in birthday hats, have a birthday cake, etc. and party it up!
• “Decade in Review” - It may be fun to do a decade type theme highlighting such years as the 50s, 70s, or 80s. You can do a "Decade in Review" highlighting the last ten years of your Relay. For cancer education, maybe you could do a "Key Developments of Cancer research within the last decade." Just some ideas. :) (thanks to HopeInLindy)
• See also “Time Capsule” themes
• Beach Party! – see Beach themes below under team themes
• Butterflies, Beaches, and Buffett (as in Jimmy Buffett) – Thanks to Kerri M. and the Greater Auglaize Relay For Life! - http://www.auglaizerelay.com/ for sharing this great idea! – “Our theme for this year is Butterflies, Beaches, & Buffett (as in Jimmy Buffett) Cancer Take Flight On Butterfly Wings Tonight. We are having a live butterfly release at opening & closing (weather permitting). I am sending you a sample of our tickets. I bought butterfly pins off a couple of ebay stores so that the person gets a pin to wear & keep & if they come to Relay they receive a live butterfly to "release cancer" "in honor of" "in memory of" or just for fun. We are planning on having Jimmy Buffett music, butterfly bracelets, sand for the kids to play in, coconut bra contest, plus anything that anyone can think of! We had a committee member who's son had a luau wedding reception, she got all the decorations from that for us to use. We will sell lei's also. Our survivor dinner will be a luau (held in March or April) to hopefully excite our survivors about Relay. Feel free to use any of our ideas for your web site. My husband, best friend & I came up with the theme. We will read this poem at our opening.

• Carnival For A Cure – Have all your teams have a carnival/circus theme!!! See Animal and Circus related themes below! (thanks to mamamo777!) You can sell stuffed animals to raise money (if that fits with your local rules! Please check with your committee/staff!)
• Cartoons/ Cartooning For A Cure / Let’s Toon Out Cancer – See Cartooning below (thanks to many, including IRelay4Mom)
• The Countries Of the World – Thanks to many, including IRelay4Mom)
• Cruisin’ For A Cure – Have a “car” theme for your event… Teams could use any of the car related themes below under the ideas for team themes, such as “Little Red Corvette”, “Car Wash For A Cure”, “Car Bashers For A Cure”,
• Dancing For A Cure – Build your entertainment and team themes around Dancing…
• Games (Cancer is Not A Game!) – Build your event around each team having a “Games” Theme (See below)
• Happily Ever After – Use Fairytale themes, and make your event slogan “Making the Fairytale of a Cure Come True!”
• Holidays/ There is No Holiday From Cancer – Have holiday related themes (see below) for campsites and have an overall “holiday” theme to your event
• Las Vegas/ Vegas/ Vegas Lights! – Have Vegas be your theme – hold vegas style fundraising games, etc…. See Las Vegas below for more ideas!
• “Lights, Camera, Relay For A Cure!” – A great event theme from the Santa Maria Relay For Life… Make your event about the movies – show movies all night (borrow a projector and hook it up to a VCR), have each team have a movie theme, have “STAR POINTS” (spirit points), have a “STAR SEARCH” talent contest, and so on!
• Movies/ Night At the Movies (thanks to Cove Relay For Life & IRelay4Mom) – Use the list of movie themes below (go to the “Team Themes” section below, alphabetically down to Movie Themes) You could use one of the following movies for your overall event theme too, if you wanted:
• King Kong
• Star Wars
• Lord Of The Rings
• Harry Potter
• Movies - "A Night at the Movies - Watch-A-Thon For A Cure" – Have Movies be your Relay theme, and do just that! - Watch movies while your aren't walking. Offer folks the whole 9 yards - popcorn, movie candy, people dressed as Movie Ushers (Have one team's theme be "Ushering for a cure" and have them all dressed as ushers! ... Could be very funny...). Have three different locations with screens and a projector that connected to laptops playing different movies, and serve up some fun! Have each team have a movie theme to go with your event theme (see the Movie Themes section below). Heard of an event which did something like this, but I don’t have a name or contact info :< - if you know who it was, please let me know (rflvolunteer@gmail.com).
• Movies - Win An Oscar for A Cure – Dress up like you are movie stars and at the Oscars, and make your “baton” for the person walking something that looks like an Oscar Statue/Trophy. Put out a red carpet to your tent. As you walk around the track, have little pins or trophies to give others if they can answer a cancer control question right.
• Nursery Rhymes (Once upon a cure) – An event theme that can use the “Fantasy”and “Fairytale” themes below!
• Patriotic/ USA For A Cure ./Stars and Stripes for A Cure - (thanks to IRelay4Mom) - use the Patriotic Themes below
• Relay Roadmap to a Cure – Have a road theme – this can be great for car themes, travel themes, etc.! Thanks to Heather K.
• Rock and Roll For A Cure – Teams can do all sorts of musical stuff!
• Saddle UP For A Cure! – Thanks to Jill – A great Western Theme for your event!
• Sitcoms / Comedy For A Cure – Have an event themed around Comedy… get standup comedians (or even one that has had cancer), have improv all night and vote for the best improv standup comedian at your event… Have Funny Themed Laps… Show Comedy movies all night on a TV. Have another for Children’s movies, showing Disney movies (Funny ones). Have every campsite have a comedy theme (thanks to IRelay4Mom, and R. Moorthy Baltimore, MD)
• Sports Theme (overall for event) – Have a “Sports For A Cure” Overall theme and let each team have a sports theme
• Baseball
• All Stars – DO it like the Football one that is right below – declare your survivors to be “All-Stars”… Have your caregivers be “All Star Relief Pitchers” for providing relief and support to patients… and give “All Star Designated Hitter” Awards to family and friends who have helped care for cancer survivors and those we have lost… Have fun with it! (R. Moorthy Baltimore MD)
• Football
• Most Valuable Player – Have your event be football themed (you can look at decoration ideas under “Sports” below)… Hand out awards for Most Valuable Players – give one to every survivor you meet on the track, give “caregiver awards” to caregivers, and so on… Make it fun and entertaining! (R. Moorthy Baltimore MD)
• States – see 50 States
• Take Me Out To the Ballgame – Each team could dress up as a Major League Baseball team or use one of the Sports themes below.
• Time Capsule Themes – These are a list of diverse ideas that basically “take you back in time”
• Under the Sea – Have Ocean/Boating/Sea related themes for your campsites in your event
• Wild Wild West! – A great theme from the Lebanon County Relay For Life – thanks to Laura for sharing – “The Relay For Life of Lebanon County is taking an exciting trip back in time for Relay 2006! We're going back to a time when horses and cowboys roamed the desert free. When buffalo were plentiful, and the skies were always clear. Back to a time when Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Wild Bill Hickok marshalled the territory from Illinois to Nevada. Back to a time when there were no cars and no nuclear plants, and the ozone protected us from sun radiation better. Back when cancer was accountable for far fewer deaths than in todays' world. On behalf of the Lebanon Planning Committee, and our Honorary Co-Chairs Tiffany Bare, Heidi Eck, and Renato Rivera, we invite you to grab your western duds, and jump on board the chuck wagon! Come along and join us at Cedar Crest High School on May 19-20, 2006, as we take this wonderful trip back through time to the Wild Wild West!” What a great idea!!!!!
• Zoo! Or Life’s A Zoo Or Animals For A Cure! – Have each campsite have an animal related theme (Lions for A Cure, dressed in Lion costunes, or Hunting for A Cure, etc.)
  

And one way to make your event theme even more fun is to announce it at your kickoff – here is a great idea from Rock4aCure:

“We save our theme announcement for kick off! Our committee dresses in character for whatever the theme is. Last year was the Fabulous 50's, and we were the pink ladies, and got pink lady jackets, and pony tails, white sneaks, the boys were the t-birds, wore jeans, white tee rolled up, greased hair, and work tbird jackets. We served food of the era white castle cheesebugers, and floats we had a relay store, registration table, and then we had speakers and introduced our committee. We did it for the first time on a friday night, and we got a great turn out! We advertised a soc hop type theme, and played 50's music. It was alot of fun!!! The kids were great, they got up and sang, and we even had elvis perform too!! ELVIS was in the building!! :)” (from http://www.relayforlife.org)

Hope this helps!

Hi Traci!

My name is Jennifer and this year our theme was...Around the World, Passport to Hope!  Each team came up with the country they wanted to represent and decorated their campsites accordingly. 

Our theme for 08 is Cruisin' for a Cure.  I'm really excited about this one, too!

 Just an idea...

Hey Traci, I know I've read somewhere on this board about an event doing the "Superheroes" theme.  I thought that would be a fun one to do.

Kris
Survivor Chair - North Las Vegas