Hooking up the "Mammary Mile"

The Bras come out on Saturday at Relay for Life!!!

juliechatterbox — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:44:41 +0000

It’s been a while since I updated this site, with all the hoopla surrounding our “Mammary Mile” to raise money for the American Cancer Society! We passed our mile of decorated and dedicated bras and have raised over $10,000 and the bras will all be on display at the 10th Relay For Life this weekend in Lockport!

There is so much going on at Relay, from 2 p.m. Saturday June 19th to the closing ceremony at 6 a.m. Sunday June 20th. You can check it all out at www.relayforlife.org/lockportny

Come and celebrate “The Magic of Birthdays” as we celebrate all the years we’ve helped add to the lives of those battling cancer! You don’t have to be on a team to join us. Think of it as a big carnival of love and hugs, with plenty to do! From a cake decorating contest (we get to eat them at Midnight) to a kid’s tent full of activities and a KanJam tournament, there is something for everyone. Our HUGE Chinese auction has some great prizes and wonderful personal stories on Memory Baskets. In a couch potato mode? Just bring yourself a chair and sit down and enjoy the event! Watch the parade of survivors, then teams, then caregivers from your own comfy spot (Opening ceremonies at 6 p.m.) . It’s not about athletics! It’s about sharing the fight and showing support for those who battle cancer, from infants to seniors.

We have plenty of food, beverages and snacks for you to purchase so you don’t need to bring anything but your enthusiasm! All the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society, too. Rain? Heat? Cold? You name it, we’ve Relayed in it, and we’ll be at Emmet Bellknap School on Saturday no matter what Mother Nature throws at us. Please join us as we celebrate our community’s efforts in the fight against cancer! We”ll pass a MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS RAISED this year, in our ten years of the Barker/Lockport Relay For Life. We’re celebrating ten years of love, hugs, tears and joy as a Relay family!

Join us! Bring your cameras, bring your checkbooks (all donations to the ACS are tax deductible), bring your fighting spirit and your party hat!!

I’ll post the whole Relay schedule here later today!

MM Fans

juliechatterbox — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:42:39 +0000

This is Ellen, Alexa and Janet! "women of Curves" Cranberry Township, PA,

MORE MAMMARY MILE PHOTOS!

juliechatterbox — Sat, 22 May 2010 15:58:38 +0000

Here are some more photos of the Mother’s day unveiling! We’re still going strong to see how far we can go by June 19th at the Relay For Life! We’ll keep adding to the mile as long as there are bras and donations!!! maybe we can get the Guinness Book of World Records to list our charity bra line, setting the bar for others who copy the idea!! Keep your fingers crossed that they find us worthy of consideration!! If you have photos to share, email them to me!

The Lock City Moose (meese?) cooked up a vat of chowder to raise more money for the mile. Yes, someone did cover a bra in beer caps!

Volunteers Corky Schultz and Britney Walsh braved the snow flakes and cold on Sunday morning (Corky is legally blind and a great friend of Thee Barker Store and the Soda Jerks).

Carol has made a life-friend in Rita Beitz, who is one of the top supporters of the project!

Lock City "Moosettes"

Another loyal supporter!

"Let's hear it for the girls!"

Well, that’s all for now. Remember this is a blog, so when you get to the end of the post, click on
Older posts” to see more photos and details! The Mammary Mile marches on!

A million thanks!

juliechatterbox — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:49:40 +0000

This is just a partial list of thanks to the amazing work crew who got this set up on Mother’s Day! On Saturday night, in the rain, Bob and Scott Ander, Joe Mangiafesto (did I get it right this time?) and Tim and Brandon Jenks helped Carol pound a mile of stakes into the Canal bank. Thanks to Lockport Mayor Michael Tucker for his permission to lay stakes and support of our project! On Sunday, Wayne Rider, Bob Ander, Tim and Lori Jenks, Robin and Norm Jansen, Corky Schultz, Betsy and Paul Higgins, Pat Fuller and Brittney Walsh showed up to help roll out the bras and show them off. lending their support were the men and women of the Lockport Moose Club, who brought another $500 check to donate to the cause! Cheryl Weich came with money collected from bras decorated by residents at Briarwood Manor in Lockport. We estimate that we received over 500 bras through Red Hatters in the Western New York Crown Jewels 9our friends in Hamilton, Ontario as well!). Somerset Town Clerk Becky Connolly has donated hundreds of bras, gathered from town and village clerks across the country! there are so many more stories to tell, and the line keeps getting longer! It looks like our kitty for the American Cancer Society is around $12,000 and growing! Bless you all for your help as we keep up the fight against cancer!!

Of course, the whole “Barker Soda Jerks” RFL team is proud of Captain Carol Ander and her vision… and her right-hand gal Lori jenks. We love them!

Stay tuned for more news and photos and share your own by commenting or emailing me at juliechatterbox@msn.com!!

Mother’s Day unveiling!

juliechatterbox — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:33:32 +0000

: It took hundreds of stakes to join the 50 foot bra sections! Thank you to Rita Beitz and her nephew Cal Schilling of the Southtowns for making the wooden stakes, and to Don & Jeff Pyskaty and Paul Higgins for more! Wayne Rider, Norm Jansen and Tim Jenks help strig them up!

Early morning supporters include some Red Hatters. The lines of bras were a bit like Christmas tree light strings wanting to tangle up

Barker relay Queen Darlene lutz brings coffee for the frozen troops, including Norm, Lori Jenks and fearless leader carol Ander!

OOPS! in the photo above, the Mother's Day Breast Cancer Walkers pass the bra line! Now, bring on the bras!

So there you have the first photos to surface of our unveiling on Mother’s Day on the Erie Canal! Obviously we do not have photos of all the bras! My apologies for picture quality, etc….my computer skills are limited and I had to scan these into a file to upload. If there are any jpegs out there, email them to me at juliechatterbox@msn.com and I will add them to our blog.

HOW FAR CAN WE GO???? We have a whole month more before the Relay For Life on June 19 and the bras and donations are still coming in!! I’m sure other Relays across the country will try to break our record next year!!

We made our mile!!

juliechatterbox — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:58:11 +0000

It took four and a half hours to get the bras up and the mutiple strings are the overflow after the mile was reached!

It’s been a long week since Mother’s dDy and I apologize for not getting photos up, but I didn’t get to see anything from my vantage point in the auction tent, and just received these photos to scan and upload!

It was truly an amazing sight, despite the snowflakes trickling down all morning, and will be an even BIGGER show when the bras are all on display at our Relay For Life on June 19th. If you want to liesurely stroll the lines and read the messages, see the designs, etc.- it will be the perfect opportunity. The bras will be on display throughout the Relay so you can come at a time convenient to you! I’ll have more details later, but in the meantime, I’d better get busy scanning photos and find the list of people to thank! Julie

Mother’s Day Canal Walk Auction note!!

juliechatterbox — Sun, 09 May 2010 11:46:04 +0000

Since the weather is so cold, those who are not able to stay after the walk can still participate in the HUGE Chinese Auction. We’ll take your name and number when you buy tickets, and call you if you win. REMEMBER THE WALK IS A RAIN OR SHINE EVENT! It will be chilly, but the hearts and welcome are warm!! See you there!

news flash!!!! WE PASSED ONE MILE!

juliechatterbox — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:09:36 +0000

The Soda Jerks bra stringers passed the one mile mark late Wenesday night and there are still more to zip tie to the 50 foot lengths! Stay tuned for progress updates!! Weather is looking cool but DRY for Sunday…thank you, Lord!

CHANGE IN VOLUNTEER POINT!!

juliechatterbox — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:04:56 +0000

Okay, listen up! The information in the previous post is all right except that the pop-up tent and banner will be ACROSS from Widewaters, near the parking spot off the Cold Springs canal bridge. That puts you closer to the bra lines. Just look for the giant banner and balloons and you’ll be all set.

IF YOU GET LOST ON THE WAY AND CAN’T FIND CRAZY CAROL ANDER AND THE TENT, CALL HER CELL AT 560-2081

Before you get settled on the north side, be sure to take a chance on the Chinese auction and 50/50 at the Breast Cancer Canal Walk event site. Winners must be present, but the drawing does not start until after the walk and the bra display, so bring your chair around and scoop up some prizes!

HELP! We need you on Mother’s Day!

juliechatterbox — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:45:06 +0000

I’m sending out another call for volunteers to help us get the bras out there for their outing at the Mother’s Day Breast Cancer Canal Walk on Sunday! What we need are people who are NOT taking part in the walk- (two people for each 50 foot line of bras) to help support the line while the MDBCCW walkers walk by them along the canal!

Carol will have a pop-up tent with the Mammary Mile banner along the grass, somewhere between the Canal Walk registration tent and Matt Murphy Way. We are hoping, of course, for DRY weather because some of your artfully crafted bras are extremely delicate and not waterproof! They will lay the line across the north walking path of the canal beginning before 11 a.m. and the “Human Clothespoles” will go to their assigned space before the walk begins at 1 p.m. to display them in honor of all who are there to fight breast cancer! Obviously, if you are participating in the walk, you can’t hold the line. Now, it is perfectly okay for you to bring a chair so you don’t have to stand for an hour- we just want people to be able to see the bras as they pass. If there are TV cameras filming, (the news people might be there) you can stand up and smile for the cameras!

If you know teens who need community service hours documented for school or church, I will be in charge of writing letters to document participation. Email me at juliechatterbox@msn.com or call 795-9262 and let me know what you can do to help! We’ll also give a shout out to participating groups on this website!

When you come, be sure to check out the HUGE Chinese auction, side raffles and 50/50- open to everybody! All the proceeds from Sunday’s Walk go to Mary’s Room, the wig room at the American Cancer Society named in honor of Mary Marvin, and other cancer charities locally.

WEATHER ALERT****WEATHER ALERT*****WEATHER ALERT*********WEATHER ALERT

Right now the extended forecast says rain and wind on Saturday… no news yet about Sunday but you know how Western New York weather can change! The Canal Walk and auction etc. go on Rain or Shine without fail, but if it is raining we cannot stretch the bras out in the open on muddy ground! Remember they need to make it to their final destination at the American Cancer Society Relay For Life on June 19th! However, the tent and banner will still be there with many bras to look at! Stay tuned to this website as we get closer to the weekend for updates!!