American Cancer Society Making Strides Walk

Location: Soldier Field

Date: Saturday, October 26, 2013; 7:00 am-12:30 pm

"Tedmobile"

After months of planning and preparations, the day had finally arrived – ‘2014 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk’.  I arrived at 7 am and it was still dark outside.  All the tents and various stations were being set-up and it looked like people had been there for quite some time.  I saw Jess, one of my fellow committee members, setting up the ‘Survivors Tent’ and she directed me to where volunteers were checking-in.  As I did that, I saw Ted driving one of those golf cart like vehicles and he said that he would give me a ride to my Photo Booth.  While it wasn’t exactly being in the ‘Batmobile’, I still enjoyed riding that thing in the cool morning breeze.  Before that, we had a quick meeting of all of the station heads, where we got lanyards having emergency contact information for everyone.  They weren't taking any chances for sure!

Ted dropped me off at my station and from the looks of things; I had a lot of work in front of me.  I was right next to the survivor’s tent and they were doing a spectacular job of decoration. I started by setting my table up straight and then looked inside my box of props to see what we had to work with.  There were all sorts of pink things in there including a boa, garlands, Santa hat, big glasses, tiaras, masks etc.  There were signs that could be inserted in the ground and I went about putting u-them up, directing people towards the photo booth, advertising the company that was sponsoring this and also instructing the people to use, but not take any of the props with them.  The photo booth itself was all wrapped up and would only be opened once the operator from the company showed up.  In the meanwhile I was freezing and so went for a walk to warm myself up.  I saw two girls at the ‘Corner Bakery Café’ booth and asked if they had any coffee.  While they did have lot of goodies, they unfortunately did not have coffee and so after taking a muffin, I promised them that I would find some coffee somewhere in the park.  I did not have to look far since the survivor’s tent next to me had coffee and after grabbing a cup I went back to inform the girls, telling them that while it wasn’t up to ‘Corner Bakery’ standards, it was still hot.

My station as I found it 

Eventually the photo booth folks arrived – Jason and Kimberley.  While Jason was going to be working with me at our booth, Kimberley – who was also the owner of the business – would be operating the other booth in the survivor’s tent.  One of the volunteer’s had recruited her husband, Terry, and he was going to be helping Jason and me.  We set the booth up and after some minor difficulty, found power and had it functional.  Jason then showed me how to operate the thing, and the people coming in had two options – take a personal sized photo inside, or a larger group sized one outside.  Inside they got 3 photographs whereas outside they got 2 poses.  I liked Jason and we got along very well.  He told me that he was the software developer for the company and based on some of the events that he had done, people were going to have a lot of fun at our booth.  One final thing we had to do before opening the booth for business was hanging the giant ‘American Cancer Society’ sign behind the wide angle view and since the sign did not have any holes to tie it, we had to use giant clips.  Jason and I tried the booth and though my poses were quite lame, we were now ready to welcome our first guests.

The props

By now the place was getting crowded and the festivities were well and truly on.  And boy, were we popular!  A queue had begun to form at the photo booth and people were checking out the props that they wanted to use.  My job was to get them excited and set them up with their pose for the picture, especially if they were taking one outside, and then start the machine once the set-up button started blinking.  After the first picture was taken I was to remind them that there was one more and once that was done, get the group out of there, so that the next batch could come in.  Terry’s job was to ensure that the people did not walk off with the props and even if they did so, it was because they had forgotten that the props were still on them.  I would usually tell the women that while they looked fantastic wearing those, we really needed them back.  Jason would wait for the two sets of prints to come out of the printer – which usually took 90 seconds – and in the meanwhile I would tell the group that was patiently waiting, to relax from their pose.  Just as they would do so, the set-up button would start blinking again and it was time to go.  While the first picture was their signature one, almost everyone made a funny face for the second one; to which I say, brilliant!

A big turnout

With people waiting for the printing, I told Jason that he had to work on a way to speed up that process.  But he was great with the people and very patient.  Despite the lines, if someone requested a second shot and if their first one was really terrible, he gave it to them.  Many of our visitors were survivors who had come with their families to celebrate this occasion, for that's what it really was - a celebration.  We would ask the survivors to stand in the center, while we surrounded them with their family.  For the kids, we had chairs that we were using for them to stand up on; else they would be out of focus.  The lines were getting longer and Ted sent over some college girls to support us, though we really did not need additional help and they would just be standing around.  I asked them to help out by walking through the crowd and recruiting people to come for the pictures.  In the meanwhile, the opening ceremony had commenced and on the stage one lady was taking the crowd through ‘Zumba’ exercises.  There was a lot of color in the crowd and seeing the turnout made me extremely happy to have contributed to this event. 

The 'Survivor's Tent'

Once the walk started the line for our photo booth dwindled and we could finally take a break.  It was really cold and so I went to get some more coffee from the survivor tent and it was looking spectacular with all the decorations that the ladies had done. Some folks who were not participating in the walk, or starting later, came for their pictures, including a lady holding a card honoring her mother who had passed away years ago.  A visibly moved Jason thanked her for participating and I could tell that he was really taking pride in doing this – and for no cost.  In fact, people could not believe that the pictures were free and furthermore, they could go to a website on Tuesday to download them.  Jason said that people were always happy at a photo booth, thought one time he had to break up a fight at a wedding.  Wow, they must have had one heck of an open bar!

Even I got my picture

The walk was at an end and people were forming lines again.  I was encouraging people to wear props, especially the men; with some saying that it doesn't make them seem macho.  The fact that they were out here today makes them macho enough for me.  I was joking with the crowd and we were all having a great time.  One lady came and we were captivated by her beautiful eyes.  Another lady in the line commented on them and the girl behind her said that she wished she had those eyes.  The woman said that she had inherited them from her dad, making me wish that I had inherited my great grandma’s crystal blue eyes.  After hundreds and hundreds of pictures of families and individuals, and even dogs dressed in pink, we were ready to leave.  We ensured that everyone had a chance to take some pictures, including me with a pink fedora.  I thanked Terry for his hard work and told Jason that it had been a great experience.  I cleaned up my station and then helped breakdown the food and beverage tent, including loading unused water bottles in Ted’s cart.  With some other volunteers we folded tables all over the park and then it was time for me to leave.  Ted thanked me for my work, not just today, but over the entire year. Wow, it still feels like yesterday that I attended the kickoff meeting.  I said that it had been my privilege and I really felt that I was part of the organizing team.  I saw thousands of happy faces today.  No one, not a single person left our photo booth without a smile.  Everyone had a great time, and I was a part of bringing them that joy. How awesome is that?