By Carol Phillips – News Editor

Milford’s annual Relay For Life was held on Saturday, September 6 on the Foran High School track to raise funds for cancer research.

The event started with a survivor lunch and ceremony. Gayle Slossberg, one of Connecticut’s state senators, spoke along with a few other guests.

One woman shared her personal story of dealing with her cancer. She became pregnant and lost her baby, so she went for some blood tests. In the tests, she found out she had cancer. However, her cancer was from being pregnant.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the place,” event committee member Jeanne Cox said.

The cancer survivors took a lap around the track and had their lunch to start the event off. The food for their lunch was catered and all the survivors were pleased with how amazing the food was.

The event began and people noticed the impending storm. Due to the nature of the storm, everyone had to relocate to the auditorium of the high school.

Some people left in fears of the storm, but most people stayed to have fun inside for the two hours. The committee members helped organize and host a talent show where anyone from the event could join and show off their skills. Many talents were singers, including renditions of songs from “High School Musical.”

“It was pretty funny when students decided to have a mini talent show in front of everyone,” senior Hayley Sanchez said. “It was also cool to see dance instructors teaching people how to do Zumba to keep us busy.”

At one point, the Zumba tent went onstage and had a big dance off where they taught everyone Zumba moves. Many people participated in the dance; even people who remained in their seats moved a bit with the music.

Once the clear was given to start up again, everyone rushed back outside. The event then continued raising funds and hosting fun activities for everyone to enjoy.

There were many tents at the field, with activities that ranged from 50-50 raffles to a “Bra Pong” station.

“This is our second year here, and we love it,” members of the Platt Technical School’s girls soccer tent said.

Several Law clubs and teams had booths, including girls basketball, cheerleading, football, National Honor Society. Activities ranged from selling food to giving henna tattoos.

“Relay was fun,” senior cheerleading captain Darby Hudd said. “As always, my favorite part was the illuminary.”

At their tent was tie dying, raffles, and a few games where anyone could win a prize. Foran’s football team had their customers pick a dress for them to wear, then took a lap around the track in the dress the customer chose. There was even a tent that sold fresh bread for everyone.

One tent in particular, from foran’s Band, had an interesting theme.

“We had water balloons, beverages, and ‘Cancer Sucks’ lollipops,” Foran band parent Terrie Downing said. “We love coming here each year.”

Another tent from Foran Girls Swimming had an interesting theme. Since they were swimming, they used a fishes to raise funds. For one activity, you had to guess the right amount of Swedish Fish in a jar. Another game was a duck race, and if you won, you get a ticket for a free fish.

“We even gave some of the tickets away for fun.” Foran swimming captain Amanda Roma said.

Overall the event was a huge success, even with the conditions that had to be worked around.

(Photo by Darby Hudd)