The 2011 Walk of Hope was a Huge Success thanks to You!

September 17th has come and gone, and we had another great Walk of Hope! Even though the weather was blustery, the fine folks of Big Stone County came out to support us in raising funds for this great cause.

There were some great new additions this year. Several cancer survivors shared with us their inspirational stories of their personal fight against cancer.We had amazing entertainment, a whole new kid's area with fun games, a very successful silent auction, and much more. We also had transportation for our survivors walk this year, which considering the weather was very well attended. Several new teams joined us this year, raising money selling wine &  fishing gear, and recycling cans. Also new this year was the Tractors against Cancer ride, and their name board was in the park so that more names could be added.

There are many people to thank, some announcements that need to be made, and money to be totaled, but for tonight I will settle for posting s few photos of the day. As the other information is gathered, I will continue to add information.

Saturday also happened to be Don Williams' birthday, and the entire group took a few minutes to celebrate with him. In his honor, cookies were served with the supper. Here you see him hamming it up with our own Donna Layman.

Sister Pia took to the road with one of the two carts we had for the Survivors walk. She managed to fit her chauffeur job in between working at the hospital, and five o clock mass! What a trooper!

I was a little late with this shot of our Survivor Walk, but hopefully I'll find someone that got a better one. There was a fair amount of wind, but the luminaries surrounding the park were really a site to behold!

Amy Lang, of Clinton, provided us with a wonderful medley of inspirational music during the afternoon. Her talent is truly amazing! In addition to entertaining us at the walk, Amy has decided to organize a team for next years walk! Thanks so much Amy!

More wonderful entertainment was provided by the girls' choir from the Lismore colony. Not only are these young ladies talented singers - they are also gifted in their kitchen skills. The day before the walk they assisted in making all the pies for the WOH in their phenomenal kitchen. A great time was had by all!

Here's the one you were probably waiting for ... your esteemed President, out of jail on work release, and the local sheriff.

(Being arrested is very popular among corporate execs these days)

That's it for tonight. If you have photos you would like to share, please email them to bette@bigstonelake.net, and I'll try to get them up here as well as on our FaceBook page.

One final thought ... Thank you, thank you, thank you to each & every one of you that contributed to making this years walk so successful!

It's almost here!

As hard as it is to believe, the walk is less than three weeks away! We are having our last big meeting Tuesday evening at 7:15 at the Beardsley Fire Hall. It would be great to have someone there from each team.

Just a few housekeeping issues -

If you have been selling luminaries, please bring your sell sheets to the meeting. The names are all being recorded on a computer this year, and we would really appreciate not having to type in 1000 names on the day of the walk!

If you or your team has a basket or item for the silent auction it would be great if you could bring it with as well.

There are still some raffle tickets available, so if you know of anyone that would like some more, please let us know.

And please don't forget that the Oldies but Goodies team will be selling root beer floats at Hartman's Super Value this Friday. Many thanks to those fabulous ladies for working so hard every holiday weekend, and also to Hartman's Super Valu for donating the ice cream & pop for this great cause!

Hope to see everyone tomorrow!

It will be here before you know it!

Our next meeting will be next Tuesday, August 9, at 7:15 at the fire hall in Beardsley. The Walk of Hope is just six weeks from today. TIME TO SELL THOSE LUMINARIES!! It's very important that every team that is planning to participate in the Walk of Hope on September 17 be represented at the meeting on Tuesday, so that luminary bags and raffle tickets can be distributed and plans can be finalized. If your team is not able to participate in the Walk, you are still encouraged to sell luminaries and raffle tickets. Thank you!

IMPORTANT: We have a new team this year: Kevin's Keepers, in honor of Kevin Homan. Kevin's Keepers will be doing a basket silent auction, so each team is asked to donate a basket for the auction. If possible, the basket can be brought to the meeting on Tuesday; otherwise, you can bring it to the September meeting. Thanks to everyone on the Kevin's Keepers team for participating in our Walk!

See you on Tuesday!

 

How did it get to be July???

Hard to believe, but it's July! Where does the time go?

The 2011 Walk of Hope is fast approaching! This year the walk will be held on Saturday,September 17th, at the park in Beardsley. This year we have a back-up plan in the event of bad weather - Keith Anderson has agreed to let us use the former Beardsley school gym if we can't be outside.

There are some changes this year ... the most important being a change in the survivor's walk. In past years we have done this as a kick off to the event, however many of our survivors found it too difficult to stay for the entire event, so this year we will honor them just before the evening meal is served. We are also working on having some golf carts available for those that find walking difficult.

Another big change is that we have ordered glow sticks in a variety of colors to light the luminary bags, insted of using candles. We are hoping this will save the volunteers a lot of time, and also give the lit luminaries an exciting new look!

We have begun selling luminary bags. Sell sheets are available from all the team captains. Please notice that this year, to make the creating of the list easier,  we are using separate sheets for "in honor of" and "in memory of". The cost is $5.00 again this year.

Both luminaries, and raffle tickets will be available at the Big Stone County fair, July 16th, 17th, & 18th. We will have a booth in the commercial building, and will be doing a raffle as well. If you have time to volunteer to help in the booth please let me know. (Bette 320-839-2048)

On July 23rd, there will be a new fundraising event - a tractor ride! Old & new tractors are invited to participate. The ride will begin in Clinton at the fair grounds, and go through Johnson, Graceville, Barry, Beardsley, and end back in Clinton for a pot-luck supper. The proceeds of the free will donation potluck funds will go to the 2011 WOH. If interested contact James or Joy Haukos at 320-630-1371  or 320-630-1415. If you plan on riding, and want to have lunch at Country Corner in Graceville, please RSVP so they have a head count.

If you are having a team this year, but haven't contacted Elaine Martig yet, please do so so we know what your team is doing for fundraising.

Last, but not least, our July meeting will be Tuesday (July 12th) at 7:15 at the Beardsley firehall on main street. We have a lot to accomplish before september, so let's have a good turnout for the meeting! See you there!

A New Year, and a New Effort - January meeting

Let's just start with "I'm sorry". Last winter I started this blog, hoping it would be a good tool for our group, and then life got busy, and I dropped the ball. But I'm back, and ready to have another go at it, because I really do want to help this group make a difference. So, help me out here, and keep me up to date on any fund raising or activities that you have going on. People will only read this if there is something interesting to read about!

Our January meeting will be held tomorrow night, January 25th at the Beardsley Fire Hall on main street. (Yes, if you hadn't heard, that means the 2011 Walk Of Hope will be in Beardsley!) Elaine sent out a reminder that there will be envelopes to stuff. I was out of town for the November meeting, but I assume that these are the letters to local businesses, asking for their support. It would be great to have a few extra hands there to help! It's also a great time to suggest any new activities or fund raisers that you might be planning. I think we all would agree that we would like to have things organized a little earlier this year.

Leah Kellen has posted photos of all the teams on our facebook page, and I am going to copy them and post them here for anyone that's not on facebook. If you have any pictures form the 2010 walk that you want to share, please email them to me, and I'll get them posted. (bette@bigstonelake.net)

Hope to see you tomorrow night! Stay warm!