PORT TOWNSEND — Prepare to be entertained while raising money for cancer research.
The Relay for Life of Jefferson County, which begins today at 6 p.m. at the Blue Heron Middle School track, 3939 San Juan Ave., Port Townsend, has a carnival theme.
The 15 teams have put together a little piece of the midway with old-fashioned cake walks, fortune tellers, dart games, cotton candy, popcorn, a bounce house, dime tosses — even a flamingo toss, which is like a milk bottle toss except that the hoop is thrown over a plastic flamingo’s neck instead of a bottle, said Deborah Parker, a member of Frontier Bank’s team, the Frontier Flamingos.
“It’s going to be way fun,” said Robert Scott of First Federal, who is chairwoman of the 2008 relay.
“It’s upbeat this year.”
In keeping with the theme, Scott may come as a clown.
“I kind of do that, anyway,” she said. “I am kind of a clown.”
But Scott, who has volunteered with Relay for Life since Jefferson County’s first event in 2002, has serious reasons for her commitment.
“I have lost several family members” to cancer, Scott said Wednesday.
“I’ve lost an aunt and a father and friends, different people I’ve known.”
Her stepfather was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, so the relay “will have extra-special meaning this year,” she said.
The annual Relay for Life raises money for the American Cancer Society to use for cancer research.
Some participating this weekend in Port Townsend will raise money through pledges of cash for laps walked around the track during the 18-hour event.
Others are raising money through fundraisers, some of which will be at the track tonight and Saturday morning.
