Late night games entertain walkers at Relay for Life

WINCHESTER — A group of eight tween girls — and a younger, pre-tween friend —spun and swirled around each other, flailing their arms above their heads as they mouthed the words to “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”

By the time they took the stage, some of the girls had traded in their shorts and tank tops for pajama pants and sweatshirts, yet none of them showed any signs of slowing down for the night. As the girls lip synched to Cyndi Lauper, another cluster of kids shuffled through stacks of CDs.

A soon as the song wound down, a group of 15-year-old boys jumped up on the stage, ready to show the dozen or so fans buried under blankets their best rendition of “Stacy’s Mom.”

Three of the boys mouthed the words to the song that describes a mom that “has got it goin’ on” while the fourth boy acts as though it is his mother being sung about. As the boys laughed and jumped around the stage, Erika Struss watched from a distance and then joined the group — clad in her pink pajamas — and acted out the rest of the song as the mother of the boys’ affection.

The midnight lip-synching contest was one of the organized activities to keep Relay for Life participants entertained during the late hours of the event. As the kids mouthed the words to songs, other members of their teams took turns walking around the Umpqua Community College track.

The music blasted from the loud speakers during the lip synching contest, making sleep almost impossible. Those who couldn’t sleep, sat in camp chairs under their teams’ pop-up canopies, making small talk or taking in the sights of the evening.

Diana Smith and her 17-year-old son, James, spent the evening gazing at stars, walking laps and playing games of rummy. James claimed he had forgotten how to play the game, but the six clusters of cards on the table in front of him — compared to his mom’s few single cards laid out in front of her — seemed to show that the concept of the game had come back to him.

“James, I need some cards,” Diana said. “And you need to stop hogging all the good ones.”

Moments later, after a few swift moves, James played the final card out of his hand and won the game. And with that, the pair set off to walk a few more laps around the track that was lined with illuminated bags, honoring people who have had, or are currently fighting, cancer.

A few tents away from James and Diana, another group of kids sat at their team’s base camp, which was comprised of worn out cardboard boxes. The kids called their site Skid Row and Hobo Camp.

“It’s resourcable,” 12-year-old Mary Cruz said.

It was nearly midnight, which had Alex Koch excited. He checked the clock on his cell phone every couple of minutes. Once the clock struck midnight, Alex would turn 14 years old.

Alex, Mary and the others spent prior hours drinking jumbo cans of Monster, Rockstar and AMP energy drinks to ensure that they could stay awake all night. In the final minutes until midnight, the kids stared up at the sky, pointing out shooting stars, the planet Venus and the occasional bat.

On the other side of the track, a group of teenagers squeezed themselves onto a small plastic mat to play several rounds of Twister. As 15-year-old Ian Moore yelled the next move, the teens contorted their bodies to reach the red, blue, yellow and green spots. One slip resulted in a heap of arms, legs and feet.

Back at the main stage, clusters of kids rotated through various games all through the night. Spaghetti Head, which required inserting dry noodles into girls’ ponytails, kicked off the two o’clock hour and was followed by games of Cracker Whistle and Spam Carving Mania.

The kids and teens spent the entire night racing from one game to the next, most determined to make it through the 24-hour event without a bit of shut eye.

“That’s how we roll,” 15-year-old Mike Davy said. “Say all nighter, and we’re there.”

• You can reach reporter Marissa Harshman at 957-4202 or by e-mail at mharshman@nrtoday.com.