Boaz, Adams honored at Relay For Life

The memory of Shannon Boaz and Carol Adams lives on next weekend
at Healdsburg’s annual Relay For Life, an event both women loved
before succumbing to cancer in the past year.
The Relay For Life of Healdsburg will be held at 10 a.m. on
Saturday, June 12 to 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 13 at Recreation Park.
The 24-hour relay is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society
and an opportunity for the community to come together to honor
friends, family and neighbors battling cancer and to remember those
who have passed.
Boaz passed away in November after a 17-month battle with
Leukemia, an ordeal that captured the hearts of her community and
led to the biggest blood drive in Sonoma County history. She was
38. Then in February the community learned that Adams—a longtime
educator, counselor and school administrator in Healdsburg and
Windsor—had passed away at the age of 66 after battling breast
cancer.
“Every year we honor someone at Relay who’s passed away from
cancer and is fighting cancer,” said Relay committee member and
former chair Karen Tappin. “This year we’re honoring both Shannon
and Carol.”
Healdsburg Relay will also honor a Healdsburg survivor, Barbara
Kleckner, who continues her fight against cancer. Organizers expect
more than 30 teams to participate this year, a group that has
already raised an estimated $46,000—an amount that will continue to
increase in the week leading up to the event.
Healdsburg Relay’s top fundraising team so far is Shannon’s
Fearless Wonders, Boaz’s former team that now carries her namesake.
Boaz began the team to honor her mother Broni Waxman, who passed
away from breast cancer when her daughter was only 16.
“The first relay team that Shannon formed in 2008 was in memory
of her mom,” said Cynthia Boaz, Shannon’s sister-in-law. “She had
wanted to do it for years, and the day before Relay she went to the
ER for an ear infection, and that’s what led to the first Leukemia
diagnosis.”
With Shannon gone, the Boaz and Waxman family continues on in
bitter-sweet homage to mother and daughter. “This year is going to
be the first year we’re doing Relay without Shannon,” said Cynthia
Boaz. “I’m really looking forward to it on one hand. It’s going to
be a joyful celebration of her life. On the other hand, it’s going
to be a sad reminder for us.”
Adams’ team is also preparing for a Relay without a cherished
team member. Adams, who lost her sister and mother to breast
cancer, was a member of the Energizers. The team continues on in
2010 with Energizer Bunny shirts with the inscription: “we’re going
to keep going until we find a cure.”
Tappin calls Relay For Life an opportunity to educate on cancer
and prevention, along with a chance for the community to remember
those gone and honor survivors. “In a small town like this, when
someone gets cancer, if you don’t know them you’ll know a friend,
or a neighbor,” said Tappin. “When an event is in your own
community, you own it.”
Healdsburg’s Relay is still accepting new teams and donations
for current teams at: http://main.acsevents.org. At the
search page type in Healdsburg and select Relay For Life of
Healdsburg.
Donors are welcome to contribute money to a current team, start
their own team, or purchase a luminary to honor or remember a loved
one. Luminaries include a name and short message, honoring a
survivor or remembering someone lost. After dusk the luminaries are
set around the Relay track and lit, creating a glowing tribute the
community can enjoy together.