Wow!  It has been 6 months since I last wrote anything on my blog.  A lot has happened both in Relay and in life.  Since February I have attended 5 Relay For Life® events and countless events supporting those Relays. 

I started the year off with the UC Davis event.  What a fun event.  One of the most amazing things happened at that Relay.  I was walking around the track, in the wrong direction, when a couple stopped me and asked, "Are you Ted?"  I had no idea who they were or how they knew my name.  Oh yeah, I was wearing a name tag.  Kim Hardie of the Roseville Relay For Life® had recognized me from my posts here on RelayForLife.org.  She had read many of my posts and even used some of my ideas.  If you ever feel like no one reads your posts, take my word for it, they do.  We all walked around the track and talked Relay.  I had attended UC Davis about a dozen years prior and still had friends in the area who were still affliated with the student organization, Hermanos Macehual, I was involved with when I was there.  They were at Relay selling sno cones.  I met and chatted with the event chairs, Chelsea Fahr and Kristen Lohse.  I had met Chelsea at California's Relay Summit and Kristen at the California Leadership Relay Conference.  The UC Davis event was a great event and one I look forward to visiting in the years to come. 

Check out my photos from the UC Davis Relay For Life® event at www.flickr.com/photos/teddytorres/sets/72157616396635488/.

The next event I attended was the Merced Relay For Life®.  Actually, I was the Fight Back Chair for this event.  Merced was a Cancer Prevention Study 3 site and we ran out of supplies.  We maxed out the number of people signing up for the study.  Sadly we had to turn people away.  Relay would not be Relay if we did not have some sort of obstacle to overcome.  The day before the event we discovered the center of the field had been sodded and we could not use it.  We just changed a few things logistically and made it work.  All the survivors were presented with a plant at the opening ceremony.  The event was great! 

Check out my photos from the Merced Relay For Life® event at http://www.flickr.com/photos/teddytorres/sets/72157621760680331/.

A week after the Merced event I was in Turlock for their event.  I had worked the night before and everytime I passed by a door I could see the rain pounding the earth.  When I arrived in Turlock, half of their track was flooded.  As we all do, they improvised and walked in the center of the track.  Their opening ceremonies were fantastic with the event chairs popping out of a large cake celebrating the 25 years of Relay For Life®.  After the Survivors Lap the teams were asked to line up with team banners to particpate in the team parade.  I left shortly after.

I left the Turlock Relay For Life® to participate in the Mariposa Butterfly Parade with the Mariposa Relay for Life®.  It is always a pleasant drive up to Mariposa.  The parade was quick marching along Hwy 140 through downtown Mariposa.  I did not stay in Mariposa long and headed back to the Turlock event.

Check out my photos from the Mariposa Butterfly Parade at http://www.flickr.com/photos/teddytorres/sets/72157617646937254/.

Because I had not slept I did not stay in Turlock more than a couple of hours.  Both the Turlock Relay For Life® and the Mariposa Butterfly Parade were a lot of fun.

On May 16th I visited a baby Relay in Livingston, California.  I stayed only through the Survivors Lap because the Mariposa Relay For Life® was the same day and I was on a team there.  There was great community support at the opening ceremony.  From what I witnessed and what I was told the event was a huge success.  I look forward to future events in Livingston.  I expect bigger and better things from them.  And I know they will do it.

As soon as I arrived in Mariposa I was asked to facilitate some activities.  I had been helping Mariposa's Fight Back chair throughout the planning process.  Her husband was fighting cancer at the time and she was unable to attend the entire event.  She had let me know what was going on and her preparation made it easy to pick up where she left off.  The event chair and co-chair, Jen and Ginny, were simply awesome.  Because I was on a team, I participated in more activities than I had ever at a Relay event.  I was the oldest person involved in a cake fight.  All the kids teamed up against me and I think I smelled like cake for the remainder of the event.  It was a lot of fun.  I would like to thank the Sounds Like A Cure team and the community of Mariposa for such a warm welcome to their event.  I look forward to visiting their event next year.

Check out my photos from the Mariposa Relay For Life® event at http://www.flickr.com/photos/teddytorres/sets/72157618313149191/.

In July the Atwater Relay For Life® hosted its first annual Bark For Life event.  It was a huge hit with dog lovers from all over.  We had two dogs travel as far as 60 miles to attend the event (thanks Jen).  We had visitors from Fresno, Clovis and Modesto.  We had about 40 dogs and presentations by the Merced County Sheriff's K9 Unit and the California Canine Academy.  Dogs and their owners participated in various activities and games.  Again, it was a huge hit!  People are already talking about next years event. 

Check out my photos form the Atwater Relay For Life®'s Bark For Life event at http://www.flickr.com/photos/teddytorres/sets/72157621710862713/.

Now we are in the final stages of planning the Atwater Relay For Life®.  The event is at 9:00 am on Saturday September 19th, 2009 at Shaffer Elementary School in Atwater, California.  Mark your calendars and I will see you there.