Potato Sticks!

Potato sticks are my mom-in-law's most favorite treat, ever.  I've never seen someone enjoy a potato stick as much as her.  In 2008, we decided to send her some for Mother's Day.  Instead of wrapping it, I grabbed my glue gun and as many ribbons as I could and what resulted was a crazy-crafty-colorful-glittery-over-the-top container.  Aaron, rightly, gave it the eye-roll.  

Debby *LOVED* it and to my surprise, she kept it.  KEPT IT!  Like...on display!! Which meant one and only one thing: we'd do it again!

Every year we take turns decorating a potato stick can, and each year they get more elaborate.  Debby has them all displayed as a collection in a house full of Real Art.  Yes, she's eaten all the potato sticks - a key part of the design is to make it open-able so she can crunch away!

This is a 2011 creation by Aaron (again, it's really all about the glue gun):

This was the 2012 creation by Aaron:

So for the past 7 years we've decorated a potato stick can and given it to her.  This year we out did ourselves.  Even I can't believe it.  ...AND, as an added bonus, it was a total collaboration. 

(Keep in mind that Debby volunteers at the butterfly-house at the university and loves that almost as much as potato sticks.)

We made her a butterfly pull toy!

Aaron made the base, including wheels that actually turn!

I made the butterfly:

The final result?

Hopefully you can click on the triangle/"play" symbol and see the butterfly in action!

2014 SEATTLE BRAIN CANCER WALK --- WOOOWHOOO!

Every year I feel like the SBCW (#SBCW2014) is similar to a wedding: It's months and months of planning (okay, not the case with my own wedding, but I can extrapolate), anticipation and excitement.  You know that a lot rides on this one day and then *poof* in the course of a couple of hours it's all over.  Fabulous, but over. This year was no exception.

Karen and Anner 2014

So far we have raised $479,000...and we know from past experience that funds will keep rolling in for a while now.  It seems likely that we'll more than raise another half-million!!

It was an exciting year, full of some good changes.  It was our first full year with Dr. Cobbs. His research gives me chills every time...the good kind of chills.  He thinks he can figure out a blood test for brain cancer, the cause of brain cancer (which, shockingly, they still don't know) and he thinks he can figure out a treatment that will increase average survival from 18 months to 60 months.  WOW!  Now that's easy to support!  

We added at least at least four new volunteers to the committee -- the biggest gain in recent years.  We revamped the closing ceremonies -- which I think worked pretty well.  I haven't heard back from many others yet, but it looked good from where we were standing.   Overall, we're pretty sure there were more people, although the final count is still being tallied.  I'm so proud to be a part of this organization I just don't have the words to describe it.  So I'll stop blabbering now and let the pictures do the talking.  

Here's the Walk in a photo-nutshell:

This is me and two other volunteers, Kim and Nan.  We were checking out our venue months ago and planning what would go where.  Then about two weeks before the Walk we got a call that we could have the exact same venue as last year and, because we liked last year's spot so well, we jumped at it.  This is a great example of how the Walk takes on its own life and we just do our best to keep up! 

Alice, Judy and Deb (a six year survivor which is pretty darn incredible) - just three of the truly dedicated volunteers who make the day happen each year.  Part of the SBCW Committee, they helped us collect over 125 Gifts of Experiences to give to people living with brain cancer. It's been amazing how little turnover our Committee has had in the past 7 years!

Kami makes us a series of quilts each year for Gifts of Experience.  She's a survivor with a fabric obsession.  Each year she makes quilts, Aaron and I buy Hug Time (a sweet little book about just needing a hug), and Nan  packages them up to looks even more beautiful.  The quilts usually go pretty fast.

On the right is Kami, our resident quilt maker.

This year's t-shirt.  You know it's SBCW Week when Aaron does the laundry and there are 10 different SBCW t-shirts fluffed-and-folded on Sunday night.  We've collected quite a few over the years.

The past two years I've had the privilege of receiving the tributes that families email  to the Swedish Foundation.  We make them into posters for the Walk and then they are hung in the Tent of Honor with all the cranes. It's a job I hate to give up, but someone else will get to do it next year. The stories really pull at your heart-strings and remind us how important it is to raise the money to find treatment options.

Judy and I working in the Foundation Office.  
It's festive and buzzing with activity because the walk is less than a week away!

We take special care to make the event as fun and vibrant - alive - as we can.  One of the things is homemade tablecloths all over the Patient/Survivor Pavilion...but someone's gotta iron all that pretty-ness.  
I did it this year while watching three hours of TV. Kind of a win-win, if you look at it the right way. 

My fellow volunteer, Mercer, working in the Swedish Medical Foundation office.  
Mercer is just amazing - she organizes multiple fundraisers, signs up over 100 volunteers, is in charge of T-Shirt pick-up at the walk, and this year she agreed to Chair the Closing Ceremonies Committee... but all of this is a blog entry on it's own.

Karen and I at a special dinner for donors and friends of the Ivy Center the night before the Walk.  Everyone admired the Aaron Barr "baby flames" necklace that I was sporting.  We had a great time.  Karen spent a lot of time convincing our table-mates to go traveling.  Karen sure has seen seen some things!  It's about time I try to catch-up.  Well done my friend, well done.

The Tent of Honor is decorated with thousands of colorful hand folded paper cranes.  It's a serious labor of love each year keeping these neat-and-tidy and then putting them together again for each Walk. 

Legend has it that if you fold 1,000 cranes you get one wish.  A few years ago Mark, one of our volunteers who lost his wife, set out to fold 15,000 cranes.  He gathered friends and family and everyone from the committee folded for an entire summer.  Pretty awesome.

Nan is also a flower arranger.  In addition to her real job, and her large role on the SBCW Committee, she also puts together these wonderful arrangements each and every year, making the Patient/Survivor Area even more special.

Here are Nan and Tom.  They are two of the friends I've made working on the Walk.  Tom says that Nan has "volun-told" him what to do...suggesting that he doesn't really have a choice -- but I know better! Plus, I think Aaron's glad that sometimes he's not the only guy around.  Thanks Tom!

These are some of my work-friends who asked to volunteer this year.  It was so much fun to have them here on Walk Day and they did a terrific job.  They are the friendly types that make the Walk special.

ME!  The clipboard is a nice add....makes me more official.

I love, Love, LOVE the balloon truck each year.  The balloons just keep coming and coming.  
You can't believe how many they can put in there!  It's even better than a clown car.

Thanks to Kim and Freya we have entertainment all around the 1-mile route.  I'm touched by the number of really great groups that come out to perform for free early on a Saturday morning.  
It makes the whole event more unique and sets it a part from all the other events.

This is a small pictures of a big team.  Their t-shirts have rainbows and unicorns.  
I didn't get to the bottom of their story, but the shirts were awesome.  Teams come up with the best stuff.

Here's Deb on Walk Day -- surrounded by her team.

There was a team walking for someone named Jackie, who I'm guessing wasn't able to attend the walk.  They had the entertainers hold up their team signs while they recorded their performance.  I assume they were showing it to her as they walked in her honor.  The depth of the love and friendships at the Walk is immeasurable.

This is the Total Experience Gospel Choir - a Seattle institution.  
They have been with us for years now and are just fantastic. 

We love you too, Mr. Mime.

The Seattle Philharmonic cello choir performs every year.   They lost a member to brain cancer several years ago.  Her name is Meg and she played clarinet.  Every year, they perform at the Walk in addition to donating hundreds of tickets to people living with brain cancer.

This is Dr. Cobbs and the Foundation staff - a great group to get the opportunity to work with. 
The Swedish Medical Foundation raises funds for all sorts of important work being done at Swedish Hospitals.  The SBCW is one of two walk/runs that they put on each year in addition to a number of lunches and galas.  Thanks to the people who support the Foundation, Seattle has some truly world-class medical care and research options close to home!  

(Sidenote: Everyone...and I do mean nearly EVERYONE in Seattle has their babies at Swedish...I learned today that even Karen was born there.)

Here is the entry to the Patient/Survivor Area -- the calm before the storm.  The P/S Area includes the "Gift of Experiences" where every brain cancer survivor is given a completely donated opportunity to go out -- dinner, movies, theater, boating --- you name it, we've got it.  A small army of volunteers procures all these generous donations and then we give them away to over 100 survivors in about 90 minutes on the morning of the Walk.  Aaron and Brigit are the checker-outer-team.  They get to personally talk to every survivor and give them their gift.

Everyone in a green shirt is living with brain cancer and checking out the Gift of Experiences. 
This area is jam packed with smiles all morning long.

Brigit, Aaron and Byron (below) volunteering.  

This year we expanded to have a lot more massages in the P/S Area. In the past they were just for patients - but this year we offered them to patients and caregivers.  I think by adding more chairs it was a lot more popular this year.  It'll likely grow again next year.  That's just a guess.  Again, I'm just blown away by the generosity that all these massage therapists will get up early on a Saturday and donate their time. 

Anywhere you look at Seattle Center...there are throngs of SBCW Members Walking.

This is what the Walk looks like when it's in full swing.

This was probably 1/2 hour after we arrived to do set-up in the morning.  Yaaaawn.

An hour or so later.

Happy volunteers setting up the Tent of Honor with lots of cranes.

Our Team: Worthy of Hope!

And there you go --- the year in pictures.  Next year, Aaron and I will be virtual walkers...walking who knows where!??!  Thanks to everyone who helped support the Ivy Center and their state of the art research and treatment. 

And this is how it ends...with brunch at one of the restaurants that supported the Gift of Experiences.  If I drink enough coffee and smile big enough you can almost not totally tell how tuckered out I am, but it was so, so worth it!!!!