Here are a few things other events have done to spell HOPE/CURE:

 

 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->If your site has some nice steps in/around it, use them! – If you have ever seen photos of The American Cancer Society Relay For Life Celebration On The Hill, some of the best Luminaria shots were of bags placed along the steps in front of the Capitol! Use Steps to your advantage to get a beautiful view (and photographs) of your luminaria, and save space! You can use bleachers, steps to a building, and any other angled surface.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->If you don’t have a hill or bleachers, have banners saying hope and cure behind the luminaria where you have spelled it out – some events are on flat ground… Do your luminaria display spelling hope/cure next to a fence, and have a banner that says hope and or cure behind the luminiara… Spell HOPE and CURE on the banner with reflective tape, so the glittering candles reflect in the tape and make HOPE and CURE lit at night! (thanks to Ramesh Moorthy, Towson, MD)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Free Standing Sign That Says Hope or Cure & Tiki Torches (!$50 donation apiece!!!!!!) – Many people write and say they do not have a hill or bleachers on which to display a HOPE or CURE sign… Check out the great idea from Gail J. and Randy Q. of the Floyd County, GA Relay For Life: “Our Relay is in a park. We can't spell out HOPE with luminaries because we don't have an area where there are bleachers or any type of support system to be able to actually see that the luminaries spell out HOPE. That is the reason we went with the idea of the free-standing sign. The only requirement is that you must have a power source for the rope lighting. I can't remember if I said this in my post, but each letter is 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide, making the dimensions of the entire display 8 x 16. It was cut from 1/4 inch plywood and braced with 2x4's. Our local technical college carpentry class made the sign with materials donated by a local builders hardware supplier. The track is about 1/4 mile, and we positioned the sign in one of the turns so that it was prominent as you approached the site and as you walked the track. The pictures I am sending show it during the day so you can get an idea of what it really looks like, and then at night so you can see how it looked with the luminaries. We also have an arch of balloons on the track through which our survivors walk during the victory lap, and then we keep it up all night. I am also sending a picture of the HOPE taken through the arch. The red and blue balloons along with the purple and white are in keeping with our theme of Relay Across America (the campsites were decorated in various State themes). One more great thing about the sign - the bracing was attached so that it can be folded against the letters or easily removed for storage, and we actually have the letters stacked on their sides against a wall in my basement. They were transported in the bed of a standard pick-up truck. They take very little room to store…” and if it is not enough that they had this great sign, they also did the following this year (their second year with the sign) – “…I am pleased to report that we successfully reused the sign for the second year this year and it worked beautifully… it is so dark around it, and HOPE rises from the darkness. By the way, the flames you see above the luminaria bags are tiki torches, which we added this year for $50 each – and added $10,000 to our total! The visual effect was awesome!” - see link below for pictures:

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->“HOPE” or “CURE” Free Standing Sign with “HOPE” reflecting pool in front – Do it like the idea above, but put the luminaria in front of the sign as a “reflection” of the letters in the sign – Try Gail’s ideas as above, but also add luminaria bags in front of it, as if it is a “reflecting Pool” spelling out HOPE!

 

Hope this helps

 

a slightly more permanent way it can be done and reused from year to year is to create letters out of white PVC piping wrapped in xmas lights (white lights on white wire looks best) PICTURE BELOW...for ease of construction each letter can be made 8' (standard PVC pipe length) tall and 4' wide and all piping and joints can be found at a hardware store and they can then be hung or leaned against a wall for support and have braces built for them...if you would like a very crude diagram just shoot me an email david.hirx@cancer.org

Last year we had a 4 footish cardboard cut-out of the word HOPE with Christmas lights in it (like little holes for each light)....we are hoping to have a wood cut-out with HOPE this year along the same lines. (hope that makes sense)

 

THANK YOU for the great suggestions!  However, I don't know what a Put in Cup is either.  The help is much appreciated though!!

We purchased the plastic "put in cups" in white and purple and have to spell the words in the chain link fence but it looks great and can be seen from the highway.  They are easier to take down than put up!