“Her cancer was found very late, and she died very quickly,” Cope said.

Then a next-door neighbor in Sammamish’s The Crest neighborhood was also diagnosed, and she died a few months ago, Cope said.

Finally, a different aunt, also named Mary, was also diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. Although she has won her battle with cancer, Cope and her sisters Jackie Immel and Jessica Shane were overwhelmed.

“We were like, what is going on here,” said Cope.

After that third time, it was enough. The three of them decided to do something about it.

They wanted some fun and innnformative, so, their thoughts turned toward sponsoring an 80s themed bar crawl in Bellevue.

The event will benefit the Seattle-based Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research.

The idea was not only to raise money for the center, but also to increase awareness of ovarian cancer.

“We wanted to get younger people involved,” said Cope.

The Rivkin center is one of the top private funders for ovarian cancer research, said Gaynor Hills, director of development for the center. She said they fund research projects and researchers nationally and internationally.

The center is also used to fund these non-traditional projects. Hills said they have a donor who raises money on national pie day and others who own a race horse and donate a portion of the horse’s winnings. She was grateful for donors like Cope and her sisters, who enable the center to fund its research projects.

“We have incredibly creative donors,” she said.

Ovarian cancer particularly impacts older women, past child bearing age, since they typically stop having pelvic exams, Cope said. Cope said is sometimes called a silent killer because it is often mis-diagnosed in its early stages.

In order to combat what Cope called a lack of knowledge about the disease, the sisters concocted the “Totally Teal Toast” which will take revelers through five Bellevue bars Feb. 18.

Cope said they are encouraging participants to dress in their favorite 80’s outfits, and will hold a contest for the best costume.

The day will kick off at Lot No. 3 at 12:30 p.m., Cope said, and finish up at Lucky Strike. Participants will need to figure out their own transportation to get home after a day of drinking.

The event will cost revelers $60.

The fee includes a ticket for a drink at each of the five bars, a fanny pack (in keeping with the 80s theme) and other goodies.

Get involved

To register for the Totally Teal Toast bar crawl, visit totallytealtoast.com.

For more information on the Marsha Rivkin Center or ovarian cancer, visit www.marsharivkin.org.

Symptoms

Early symptoms of ovarian cancer can include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).

These symptoms can also be caused by less serious conditions. If these feelings are new, and persist for two-three weeks, consult a doctor.

Source: Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research

Reach Editor Ari Cetron at 392-6434, ext. 233, or samrev@isspress.com.

This year, Kaylee Hansen is determined that whatever else happens, there will be a luminaria at Eastlake’s Relay for Life — even if they have to cheat a little.

For the past three years, the luminaria, decorative paper bags with candles inside, has been washed out by the weather at the annual fundraiser for cancer research. This time around, they’re going to use battery powered tea lights and wax coated bags, said Hansen co-chairwoman of Eastlake’s Relay for Life.

“We can have rain. It will be OK,” she said.

Kaylee Hansen speaks to the crowd at Eastlake’s Relay for Life kick off. Photo by Ari Cetron

Hansen was among dozens of students at Eastlake’s Relay for Life kick off event Feb. 1 at the Sammamish Teen Center.

During a Relay for Life, events like it happen nationwide, participants spend about 24 hours, in teams, walking around the track of the school. At least one team member should be walking at any given time. Each team is also charged with raising money to donate for cancer research.

Although this year’s relay isn’t scheduled to start until the morning of May 19, participants will need time to recruit teams and raise money.

The Eastlake event is one of only a handful of student-run relays across the country, and its also one of the highest performing. Last year, the group was able to raise about $116,000 for cancer research.

This time around, they are hoping to expand their reach beyond Eastlake.

Hansen said they have begun meeting with students at Eastside Catholic and Inglewood Junior High to encourage those schools to develop teams, as well. Eastlake’s emmisaries have been meeting with team leaders to share ways to recruit teams and to fundraise.

“This year will be nice because we’re taking on cancer as a community,” said Akaash Nanda, one of the student organizers of the event.

While students from Skyline would be welcome to participate, Eastlake organizers have not reached out to Skyline because the school has its own Relay for Life event.

This year’s relay will be similar to previous year’s events, Hansen said. She noted that most of the organizers of last year’s event were seniors and graduated, so the committee putting things together had to ramp up quickly to understand what they needed to do.

“Basically, we’re starting from scratch,” she said.

Eastlake’s goal this year to raise $120,000 and have at least 65 teams and 30 cancer survivors participate.

They’ve already achieved one goal, at least 10 people have joined the Cancer Action Network, said Sarah Yelenick of the American Cancer Society. The network allows members to get information and helps fund lobbying efforts on behalf of the society.

Many of the night’s activities will be the same from previous years. Hansen said there are plans for food vendors, movies at midnight, volleyball, ultimate frisbee and live bands.

they also plan some Eastlake traditions, like themed laps, and making tic marks on walker’s shirts — one mark for each lap they’ve walked.

“It gets better by the minute,” she said. “What’s not to love about pulling an all-nighter with your friends.”

Editor Ari Cetron can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 233, or samrev@isspress.com.

“It’s a really big honor to be in ‘Don Quixote,’” she said. Carmen started taking ballet classes when she was three years old at her local rec center in Virginia.

Carmen Callahan warms up prior to a rehearsal. Photo by David Rollins

Carmen moved from ballet school to ballet school. From the rec center she moved to the Loudoun School of Ballet when she was five. At age 9, her family relocated to the Eastside, and she joined the Issaquah Dance Theater. Eventually, Carmen settled at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School when she was 13 years old.

The ballet, which was created for the Dutch National Ballet in 2010, will be making its American debut on Feb. 3. The performers will be a mixture of company dancers and ballet students with the addition of a few celebrity guests. One of these guests is Tom Skerritt, who will be playing the acting role of Don Quixote.

The school teaches slightly fewer than 1,000 students, each of whom is eligible for a role in Don Quixote. From those students, 24 were selected for the show, Carmen among them.

“Since all of the young performers are PNB School students, they are essentially auditioning each day. For a production like ‘Don Quixote,’ the ballet masters coordinate with PNB School faculty to evaluate each student’s ability before inviting them to perform alongside the company,” said Judith Austin, a PNB spokeswoman.

Carmen has been selected for two shows previously while at PNB. She had a part in “The Nutcracker” last year, as well as the year before. For this show, Carmen will play one of the children in the Barcelonian square for five of the show’s performances.

“She’s a really hard working person,” said Carmen’s dance teacher Laurie-Michelle Houk. Carmen dedicates two and half hours, five nights a week to honing her dancing abilities, plus the added time of rehearsals and shows.

When the show opens, she will have had a little more than two full weeks of rehearsals under her belt. One week last December was dedicated to learning the steps and staging, while the other week will be full rehearsals leading up to the show.

Originally, two weeks of rehearsals were scheduled for the days approaching the show, but the recent snow storm made quick work of one of them.

For Carmen, ballet holds more challenge than a normal sport. “It takes mental focus and physical strength,” she said.

If you go

When: Feb. 3-12, times vary

Where: McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., in the Seattle Center

Tickets: $28-$168

For more information or tickets: 206-441-2424 or www.PNB.org

“Don Quixote”

The ballet’s story is based around a chapter of Miguel de Cervantes’ well known book by the same name. In it, the Don’s travels take him to Barcelona, Spain, where he encounters two lovers, Kitri and Basilio. The lovers find themselves unable to wed due to Kitri’s father protesting. Basilio is too poor, and Kitri is instead promised to a richer man. The Don intervenes, the lovers marry, and Don Quixote resumes his travels.

Intern David Rollins can be reached at samrev@isspress.com.

Josh Wang was excited to practice his driving skills in the snow and ice Jan. 19. So once the storm had knocked out power to his family’s home in north Sammamish, the 16-year-old Eastlake student’s mother let him drive them all to City Hall.

Wang got his parents and siblings there safely around midday and they spent the rest of the day, into the evening, warming up, playing games and working on their computers with their extended family and about a dozen others in the City Council chambers.

The Chen and Wang families hunker down at a table in the Sammamish City Council chambers Jan. 19 as they and fellow residents take advantage of the facility’s heat and light refreshments for those who lost power in the ice storm. More than 15,000 Puget Sound Energy customers in the Sammamish area lost power. Photo by Christopher Huber

City Hall opened at about 10 a.m. Thursday in its first time as an emergency warming shelter, said city manager Ben Yazici. At one point, about 35 Sammamish residents gathered in the dimly lit facility, which ran on back-up generators. Residents came and left until midnight.

“I’m glad we did (open),” Yazici said.

At the height of the winter ice storm, more than 15,100 Puget Sound Energy customers in the Sammamish area — more than three-fourth of the city – had lost power, according to the company’s website at 7:21 p.m. Jan. 19.

So, those who could get to City Hall enjoyed heat, light refreshments and electricity to charge their phones, computers and devices.

“I think this is a really great thing City Hall does,” said Michele Bryant, who drove from her Windsor Greens home to charge her electronics.

By early Jan. 20, power had been restored to most of Sammamish.

While some sat and perused the web in the council members’ seats up front, Bryant, her niece Michelle Bryant, and a friend, sat at a round table covered with electronics. Between the three of them, they had brought nine devices to charge.

The atmosphere was calm and quiet. A group of children played games on the floor, others just sat and talked, while most were glued to their computer screens. City employees took calls and maintained the coffee and snacks table for visitors.

Of the nearly 20 residents hanging out at City Hall at 7:30 p.m., most had come simply to charge electronics. The Bryants, Wangs and Chens didn’t seem too worried about it being too cold at home — they just wanted to have something to do, so came to the open City Hall.

Yazici noted the challenge of getting word out about being open after everyone had lost power. City employees announced the service on AM 540 radio, put an alert on the city website, posted fliers at the grocery stores in town and contacted 24 adult care homes, he said.

With residents using the council chambers all day, city officials set up the emergency operations center in a back room to keep tabs on clean-up efforts and such.

“So far, it’s been very positive,” Yazici said. “Everybody seems to be very grateful.”

By nightfall Jan. 19, temperatures had fallen back into the high 20s and nearly an inch of fresh snow had made side roads like Beaver Lake Drive difficult to negotiate for small cars.

City road crews and regular, albeit light, traffic kept major arterials like 228th Avenue Southeast and Issaquah-Fall City Road usable.

As the snow and ice gave way to rain Jan. 20, fallen trees and limbs continued to litter yards and impede traffic along various streets.

Ice-coated branches bent to the ground in some areas near the Beaver Lake Preserve, some grazing the tops of cars.

More and more cyclists from Eastlake, Skyline and other area high schools are joining the ranks of a new mountain biking team as it begins its second season of racing. The team, Eastside Composite, fielded about eight riders in 2011 looks to add up to seven more in 2012, said coach and Sammamish resident Phil Therrien.

“It gives high school-age kids just another alternative sporting activity that they can participate in and compete in at the state level,” said Therrien. “Kids interested in cycling as a recreational activity, now have a way to form clubs and teams.”

The growing contingent of cross-country-style cyclists is part of the rapidly expanding Washington High School Cycling League, which began in 2010. Leaders expect to see twice as many youth turnout for the sport in January than did last year.

“The Sammamish area is especially unique in that there is a high concentration of high schools located near these trails and one of the few mountain bike parks in our state,” said Lisa Miller, the league’s state director. “I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, ‘I wish I had this in high school.’ Bringing this sport to our high schools is a dream come true.”

Washington’s league is an expansion of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, founded in 2009 and modeled after a cycling league started in Northern California in 2001. Washington is the third state to emulate its model for high school-level teams, Miller said.

In its inaugural racing season last year, 14 Washington teams saw 80 students and 60 coaches and ride leaders participate. Miller expects to see up to 200 racers at the state races this year. Nationally, about 2,100 high schoolers and 500 coaches were expected to participate this season, she said, which includes the launching of new leagues in Texas, Utah and Minnesota.

“The momentum is there and the goal is coast-to-coast by 2020,” Miller said.

League and team leaders tout the fact that it’s a no-cut sport that accepts youth with any level of skill or interest. All they need is a mountain bike and a helmet and they can join the team. Girls and boys in grades nine through 12 are welcome. At races, they are all scored together to create the team’s final score.

“Unlike many sports, there are no try-outs and nobody is benched,” said Miller. “I think this is especially important to those students that have never participated in school sports before and also for those students that want to try a new sport in high school.”

Sammamish’s team just began practices at Duthie Hill Park in mid-January. The season consists of four races, including the state championship, and runs from late March through late May, Therrien said. It’s as competitive or casual as each rider wants it to be, but riders who place high enough at state have a chance to compete at the national championship in July in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Aside from training for races, the team leaders focus on teaching overall fitness, nutrition and basic maneuvering skills that the youth will be able to apply in life and riding after high school, Thirrien said.

“A big part of the effort in training is really around general fitness,” he said. “Those are skills the kids can use the rest of their lives.”

Therrien said Washington hopes to emulate California’s growth. The originating state now fields 30 teams and the state championship race draws about 500 riders and looks like a large cyclocross production.

“This means we have a very good opportunity,” he said. “We’ll probably double ridership this year from last year.”

As the ridership grows, the Eastside Composite will split into school-specific teams, consisting of as few as six riders per school.

“This provides the unique experience that is unique to high school kids,” Therrien said.

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.

For the second year in a row, a secret Santa blessed their household with hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards. In 2010, it was personalized gift certificates worth about $200. But in 2011, the anonymous Santa gave $500 in a prepaid Visa card, Safeway and Costco.

Cheryl Lewis found the thick Christmas card in a green bubble-wrap envelope when she collected the mail Dec. 23.

“We were totally shocked and surprised this happened again,” said Lewis, whose family is now getting back on its feet after a job layoff in 2009. “It’s nice to know there’s someone out there looking out there for us.”

She said they still have not spent the gifts, as they want to be smart about what they use them on. The humbling gesture has yet again given Cheryl, Gary and their two sons a greater appreciation for what they do have now.

“We definitely want to pay it forward,” Cheryl Lewis said. “We don’t feel like we deserve it.”

Trying hard to find out who presented the generous gift this year, she has asked all her friends and they all emphatically insist they didn’t do it.

With the post mark of Woodinville, she thought it might help her solve the mystery, but the return address was their own and there was no handwriting on the envelope to analyze.

In some way, they appreciate not knowing who the secret giver is.

Maybe this will spark a Secret Santa giving trend around Sammamish, she speculated.

“I’d say, ‘thank you so much for this very generous gift,’” Lewis said. “I hope that maybe in that spirit that they continue to do it, maybe for another family. Wouldn’t that be more fun to make it contagious?”

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.

The Baha’is of Sammamish invite the community to its fourth annual observance of World Religion Day Jan. 15 at Sammamish City Hall. The event will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and include speakers from Hindu, Christian, Jewish and Baha’i faiths, said Saeed Zamani, an event organizer.

World Religion day began in 1949 in an effort to bring representatives from all faiths together to celebrate common attributes of each religion and spur unity and peace in the world, according to the World Religion Day organization.

Learn more about the event and cause at www.worldreligionday.org.

Sammamish youth Paige Mackenzie was reminded recently of why she volunteers for the Boys & Girls Club.

On Thanksgiving, she and a group of youth leaders delivered a big dinner to a family in need. One of the family’s sons answered the door and gave a look of shock, exclaiming, “this is so cool!” Mackenzie said.

“I think for me it was a moment of realizing how privileged most of us are up here on the plateau, and thinking that I take even having a Thanksgiving dinner for granted,” she said.

Paige Mackenzie

Mackenzie, a senior at Eastlake High School, learned soon after that Thanksgiving moment, on Dec. 12, that she is the 2011 Youth of the Year for the Redmond-Sammamish Boys & Girls Club. Club leaders and board members set her apart among a handful of other candidates, according to the club.

“I was really taken aback when I received the award,” Mackenzie said. “It is such a huge honor to be recognized for something that I do just because I love it.”

Debbie Williams, a Sammamish resident who was a judge for the center’s Youth of the Year selection, said it was tough to choose a winner.

“The candidates that came to us were all amazingly well qualified,” said Williams, who is head of the Joshua P. Williams Foundation. “I was very impressed by what all of these youths have done in their short lives, especially in an environment where there are a great many privileged teens who have more advantages.”

The selection process involved each candidate going through a 45-minute interview with the judges. In addition to Williams, they included Mari Greshowak, community member and club volunteer, Lynne Handlos, recreation coordinator for the city of Sammamish, and Redmond/Sammamish Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors president Kristin Pitt.

Mackenzie has been a member of the club for 10 years and has volunteered and worked on staff there in a variety of positions and activities, Boys & Girls Club leaders said.

“What set Paige above the others was her long history with the club,” Williams said. “She will always come back, as this club has been a second home for her. I also think we were all impressed by her maturity, speaking abilities and confidence in her interview as she discussed her life and her future goals.”

She’s been attending programs or serving in some capacity since she was 7, Mackenzie said. She said she spent so much time with the club’s leaders and volunteers growing up, and lately as a part-time worker with the younger children, that it was only natural for her to give back as part of the Keystone program — the club’s youth leadership and community service organization.

“They really helped mentor me and get me to where I am today,” Mackenzie said.

She said she plans to attend Western Washington University in the fall and study to become a nurse anesthetist. To get a jumpstart on that ambition, she has sought to work with community medical professionals.

Mackenzie moves on to the countywide Youth of the Year competition, where she will compete against her winning counterparts from 13 other Boys & Girls Clubs in King County, according to a club press release. The Boys & Girls Club will announce the King County Youth of the Year at its annual banquet Feb. 9 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. If Mackenzie wins that, she will move on to the national competition, the winner of which receives up to a $50,000 scholarship and is installed by the President.

The Eastlake youth offered some advice to her peers around Sammamish about volunteering — “Do it.”

“Find something that you love to do, get your friends involved, but also make sure you are focused on helping others,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be something that takes up all of your time, 10 hours a month on your part can make a huge impact on many others lives.”

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.

With this early start, Eric has established himself as not only one of the top motocross riders in the Northwest Motorcycle Association, but also, at 15, the youngest ever to qualify for the top division.

Eric Giese races in the Rimrock Grand Prix, at Rimrock Lake, in October. Contributed

Eric holds a number of accolades, including a first place finish in The Mega Crown Series last year, a race put on by local organization, Team Tortoise.

For this victory, he was awarded five free entries for the next season, totaling about $250 dollars in prize money. However, the driving force for Eric is not the thrill of victory, but simply getting away from everything, “When all I have to think about is my bike,” He said.

The secret to Eric’s success seems to be no secret at all. He was born into the racing world. His grandfather raced, his father raced, he races, and according to Eric, his children will race as well.

His father, Peter, even takes care of the maintenance for Eric’s bike. However, his skill goes deeper than blood; Eric knows his own limits — in motocross terms, he never rides over his head.

“He just rides real smooth.” Peter Giese said.

Despite his innate ability to stay within his limits, they have been tested in the past.

Early in last year’s season, while riding his new motorcycle, a 250cc Yamaha YZ, Eric experienced what every mother dreads and ever rider knows is just part of the game, a horrific crash.

While going between 60 and 70 mph, Eric took a spill that resulted in him sustaining enough serious injuries to warrant a helicopter airlift to the closest hospital.

“I don’t remember that day or the day after,” he said.

Eric recalled small flashes throughout the event, but most of them involve throwing up on nurses. He was soon released from the hospital, and the path to recovery began. After missing about a week of school, he was back in.

However, his friends relayed to him that he would often slip into a daze for no reason at all. This subsided within two weeks. Within three weeks, Eric was back on his bike. More than that, within four weeks, Eric was back racing. He never missed a race that year.

When speaking on his accomplishments, he grins, but doesn’t brag. But, does racing get him out of school often?

“Unfortunately, no,” he said, as a grin drew across his face.

The world of motocross racing

Although she and her parents had all been avid cyclists for years, Crane resisted the idea the sport could help her much.

Tela Crane, a 2004 Skyline High School graduate, was recently selected to the USA Cycling Women’s Track Long Team. She will vie for one of seven spots on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. Photo by Dennis Crane, www.dbcphoto.com

“I was really skeptical at first,” Crane said.

But that introductory experience changed her mind, and her life.

“After the first class, I was completely hooked,” she said. “I liked the rush of going fast. It’s simple. No breaks. One speed. It’s so much fun to ride.”

Crane, a 2004 graduate of Skyline High School, was named to the USA Cycling Women’s Track Long Team Dec. 15, according to the national governing body for competitive cycling. She and 10 other women will vie for seven spots on the U.S. cycling team that will compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

“I was surprised to make the long-team list,” Crane said Dec. 21 after a training session in Southern California. “I am nowhere near my peak. And I keep getting better.”

Tela Crane

This is the first step in the process of earning her stripes to compete in the Olympics. In late 2010, she was invited to train with the national team, she said.

Crane, 25, grew up in Sammamish, but moved to Cypress, Calif. in September to train almost full-time at the USA Cycling training facility.

She trains about 30 hours a week — some days she does two three-hour sessions — with the current team of 11 members. Not only does she spend a lot of time on the track, but she spends considerable time doing plyometrics in the gym. Specializing in the sprints events, Crane trains like a 100-meter-dash runner would, she said.

“It’s a very strength- and power- focused sport,” she said. “You have to be so, so, so, so focused and on your game for a short amount of time. You’ve got to have that ‘on’ then that ‘off.’”

Crane stuck with the sport for the past 10 years because she liked the supportive community of cyclers and the rush of pedaling fast around the track — it’s difficult for people in cars driving by the Marymoor velodrome to gauge just how fast the racers go, she said.

“I decided I wanted to see how far I could get. I love how much of a mental sport it is,” Crane said. “I’d rather go extremely fast for a short amount of time than kind of fast for longer.”

Crane knows how little attention the sport gets, she said. But while managing the Marymoor velodrome programs she noticed that people came back to watch more races once they experienced their first one.

“I don’t think people realize how fast we go,” she said. “Thirty-plus miles per hour — people don’t realize how quick that is.”

One of the challenges of dedicating her life to training for a shot at the Olympics is having a life outside of cycling, she said. Between a part-time job and training, Crane works about 50 hours a week.

“The hardest part is balancing. You have to survive, you have to eat and pay rent,” Crane said.

On top of that, she has to compete with her friends — fellow Olympic hopefuls — for a spot on the Olympic team.

Even though only seven of the 11 current members will make the cut for the Olympics, they challenge each other more than they try to simply win at all costs. The USA Cycling program has actually improved since the team began training together at one location, rather than each member in their respective corner of the country.

“We all know how much better we get because of each other,” Crane said. “It’s a good (kind of) competitive.”

And as she works on strengthening her mental game, in addition to her speed and explosive power, one of the important things is getting her brain out of the way of her abilities on the track. There’s little time in a two-lap sprint race to adjust or re-think your strategy.

“I’m working on not over-thinking things,” Crane said. “By the time you’re thinking about it it’s too late.”

Realistically, with the current talent she’s up against on her team, Crane said, she thinks her chances are better to make the 2016 Olympic team. But that’s not keeping her from trying to surprise people this year.

USA Cycling will decide its final team after the end of the final qualifying period April 8, according to the team’s athlete selection document.

In the meantime, she’s focused on placing high at her first World Cup race in Beijing in January.

The more she trains, the more it becomes instinctual for her, she said. And that’s the challenge she faces as she vies for a spot on the Olympic team.

“As soon as I stop thinking, I have my best races,” Crane said.

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.