A weekend of endings and new beginnings

This weekend marks our first official "Save the Toucans" fundraiser (Wiegand's Ladies Night - come see us!!), but it also marks the end of the 2011 3-Day for the Cure walk season.

As I write this, walkers are arriving at the Opening Ceremony in San Diego ... thousands of walkers and crew (last year's number? 4,000!) are gathering to walk the 14th Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure this year. I've met some of them through Twitter (love the 3DayTweeps, but more about that later!), and have even met a few "live" ... including Jim Hillman, who completes his 14th walk this year. I'm so excited for all of them, yet sad that it means the end of a 3-Day season.

But it's also a great time to reflect on the wonderful community the 3-Day is. Whether it was the outpouring of support when Jim lost his father last weekend, or the celebration of a cancer survivor's two-year mark as a survivor, the 3-Day community is just that ... a community. And yesterday, I had the chance to experience it in person.

Wednesday night, I saw a fellow 3DayTweep's post that she was in the metro Detroit area. We ended up meeting over coffee Thursday afternoon. It was a really bizarre experience -- on the one hand I felt as if I already knew her (I guess Twitter and reading blogs will do that!), but at the same time had an intense desire to ask a million questions about her 3-Day experience. I wish we had hours to talk, instead of the quick hour...

So this weekend, I'm going to remember how grateful I am to be a part of this amazing community. And tonight, as Stefanie, Kraig and I kick off our fundraising at Ladies Night, I'll try my hardest to be an ambassador for the community I am a part of...

Save the Toucans: Because two cans are better than none!

Say "ciao" to Sisters Saving the Sistahs ... last night kicked off our official 2012 Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure effort with the unveiling of our new team: Save the Toucans! (Because two cans are better than none.)

Our 2012 team includes the usual suspects (Stef and Jen) along with two newbies ... Stef's husband Kraig and one of our friends, Greg.

You'll get to meet each of them over the next few weeks, but the short version of how they came to join us: Kraig got roped in (because he looooves his wife and he was such a great cheerleader/supporter for the 2011 event) and Greg's mom died of breast cancer.

We kicked off our team with a team meeting on Saturday, and had a great time brainstorming ideas for the 2012 walk ... everything from where to train (Greg works at a cemetary, which makes for a great training location), when to start training (Stef and I are diehard advocates for the 24-week program) and how to fundraise.

That's probably where we spent most of our time... talking about how to raise $9,200 for the 2012 event. We had lots of ideas, but we also need your feedback ... are you interested? Would you come? What sounds like fun???

Some ideas for you to ponder:

• Dinner nights -- Local restaurants offer a percentage of sales. We thought about doing a monthly fundraiser at local places (January through July), including Abuelos, Buffalo Wild Wings, Bagger Dave's, Black Finn, National Coney Island, Ram's Horn and Dooley's.  Any others you know of?
• Gold Party -- Stef wants to host a Gold Party (Bling for Boobies!) ... you bring your unwanted/unused gold, and a local jeweler buys it from you. We (the hosts) get a percentage of the total payout. The event won't cost you a dime, and you'll actually walk out with money! Interested?
• Tastefully Simple -- A perennial favorite, probably at the end of January. Want some?
• Euchre Party -- We had a great time hosting a euchre tournament last year and want to do it again, probably March 3. How about it: Want to come? Know of a bigger place we can use for free?
• Comedy Club -- Greg's wife hosted a fundraiser at Go Comedy in Ferndale. We'd like to consider doing a comedy club night where we buy out the theatre and enjoy the improv. We were thinking of doing this in May. What do you think?
• Brackets for Boobies -- March Madness can be a lot of fun, even if you're not a college hoops fan. Look for Brackets for Boobies in mid March! Want in?
• Cans for a Cure -- We're considering another neighborhood bottle drive, along with our ongoing willingness to come pick up your bottles and cans. Holla!

So that's where we are ... our first team meeting brought a lot of ideas and we had a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to getting to know Greg and his wife Megan more, and sharing all the fun of a 3-Day for the Cure experience with new friends.