Very soon, you will receive a note card listing the names of the members of the Infomaniac Relay for Life Team for 2009. This year, it is my honor to serve as Hollyjean’s Co-Captain! I’m looking forward to working with her and to help in any way to have a successful Relay. For those who are new to SL, Relay for Life is an American Cancer Society event in Second Life that begins in March and ends in July with a 24 hour relay. All money collected from events, product sales and donations go directly to ACS! Last year, Second Lifers donated almost a quarter million US dollars (figure that out in Lindens!!).

Our team will plan several events during this time several products that will be sold exclusively for the campaign -- and two large functions: one, the Half Way There Fair – the midpoint in the campaign and for the last day, the Relay Campsite. Teams can decorate or landscape their campsite as they wish (within the limits of prims and the guidelines of ACS) – a place to inspire – a place to educate – a place of remembrance. Last year’s Infomaniac campsite won third prize for best source of information – something we’re very proud of and something that will continue to be our focus this year!

This year, we are dedicating our race to the memory of Haldin Koba. Haldin was a ‘gentleman’ in every sense of the word (well – at least when Lena wasn’t around). He brought a spirit to his life here that drew people to him – he was always helpful and giving to the many newbies he greeted at the Reference Desk and those he met in his travels and role playing in SL. He was always handy with a joke or a funny animation – smiling on, even when he was in pain in RL.

We wondered what we could do to honor this man…what world could we create to do justice to his philosophy and his imagination.

Albert Einstein said that “imagination is the greatest creative force in the universe.”
Our ability to imagine tends to fade as we become responsible adults…but for a few of us…those of us with a vision, have gathered in Second Life to imagine a world where anything is possible…a world in brilliant colors – where chocolate rivers flow into marshmallow lakes - where rabbits can talk – where we can fly –– where disease doesn’t exist. The theme for Second Life Relay this year is ‘One World – One Hope’….but the Infomaniacs theme extends into something specific. In honor of Haldin, our team’s theme for the RFL campaign in 2009 will focus on the word ‘Imagine’….. We will imagine what life will be like without this scourge that takes people in their prime – takes those we love – and threatens us all with a life lived in the shadows of pain and medication…

We’ve got some great volunteers who are dedicated to make this RFL year amazing! But there is something each of you can do if you like….imagine….just imagine a world that is part childhood…part storybook. What world do YOU see when you think Dr. Seuss, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland? When you were a child, did you ever imagine a place where trees grew candy and orange soda was dispensed by a bunny in a sailor suit? Look around you in Second Life. What amazes you? What stimulates your imagination? Walt Disney said that he saw Disneyland in his mind and then created it in the physical world for the generations of kids and adults to enjoy! Some created those Disneyesque worlds here in SL for us.

Please write down what YOU see in your imagination and we will try to recreate those ‘worlds’ in vignettes for our Relay for Life campsite! We’ll have a huge tree house as the center of our site – a place to find information about cancer and the ACS – a place to rest from the weary day’s events. But around this tree house will be imaginative ‘vignettes’ ...small ‘worlds’ that you see only in YOUR mind….if you can imagine it, we can make it! There will be paths to walk around as you wander in our garden or you may choose to take the ‘Haldin Unlimited’ train to visit all the places in our imagination garden. And behind it all is the theme….imagine…

Imagine –
Imagine a World without Cancer
Second Life – One World – One Hope

Send your ideas to Hollyjean Allen, Bud Ballyhoo, Waldron Rhino or me.
Thank you for reading!
Amalia Broome