Wind chimes for life

by Alice E. Gerard
Grand Island Dispatch, May 2, 2008

From left, Patty VeRost, Grand Island Relay For Life Co-Chair Mary Dunbar-Daluisio and Renee Gugino of the Relay For Life Committee sold purple bows and decorated the Town Commons on Saturday, April 26, in anticipation of the annual Paint the Town Purple Day of May 1. See the back page for more Relay For Life photos.

The soft tinkling of wind chimes gives a tender melody to a light breeze. People tend to find wind chimes soothing and their sound tranquil and pleasant.

Wind chimes, which sound even in the faintest of breezes, sing all of the time. That constant song gave Stefani Perakis of Lewiston the idea to design wind chimes for Relay For Life.

“Cancer never sleeps,” said Stefani, who, with her mother, Connie Perakis, was selling the wind chimes at the April 26 roast beef dinner at the Knights of Columbus. Stefani and Connie are part of the Amazing Grace Relay For Life team, which includes this year’s honorary survivor, Lisa Dudley, and her mother, Grace Aswad, a three-time cancer survivor, for whom the team was named.

“The wind chimes are all handmade and are one of a kind,” Stefani said. “No one else has them.”

Stefani designed the wind chimes at Ready? Glaze. Fire! in Lewiston. The suns, moons, stars and ribbon are purple, to match the theme of Relay For Life. They are held together with fishing wire and decorated with beads.

Stefani said that she came up with the idea of wind chimes as a fundraiser for Relay For Life because, “I was just thinking of something that would be unique and would be a keepsake for people who know Relay. Why not wind chimes? I looked up at my wind chimes at home one day and thought that it’s something that you can keep. It’s something that’s beautiful. It’s decorative, but it serves a purpose.”

Because the wind chimes are ceramic, they are fragile and will not withstand a strong wind. “They are better placed in a window or in a sheltered area outside,” Stefani said.

In addition to the wind chimes, Stefani has also designed permanent luminaria for people to use at Relay For Life. “The luminaria are very special. At the Relay, there is always a luminaria ceremony. These are white paper bags with candles in them that are lit at dusk on the track to honor survivors and people who have lost their battle. I thought about it. Nobody ever gets to take the luminaria. They burn. They’re on the track all night and they have wet sand in them. So I did a permanent luminaria so that people could have a keepsake,” Stefani said.

The luminaria are personalized, either in honor of a survivor or in memory of someone who has died of cancer. “They can be given as gifts or people can keep them and use them as planters, vases, candle holders, or trinket holders,” Stefani said. She added that the luminaria are very special for her because they remind her of family members who have battled cancer.

Stefani, who has been involved in Relay For Life for 10 years, said that the cause is very personal to her family. Her sister, Chris Harris, is a cancer survivor and was formerly the co-chair of the Lewiston Relay For Life. She now lives in Virginia and is the co-chair of Relay For Life in Fairfax, Va.

“I got involved because I thought that it was a worthy cause. The more I was involved and the more people I knew, the more important Relay became. Then, this past September, we lost my father to bladder cancer. He had heart problems for six years. We thought that his heart would take him. Last summer, around July, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. I’ve lost aunts and uncles and friends. Much of my family has battled cancer, so this becomes very personal. It’s a good cause, and I would do it, even if it wasn’t personal,” Stefani said.

Connie also talked about how cancer has touched the lives of her family. “I have three brothers and one sister who died of cancer. My husband, John Perakis, just died of cancer in September. He used to teach at Niagara University. He was an amazing man. He taught Spanish, French, drama.” Two of her nieces, Cynthia and Andrea, are survivors of breast cancer and are now raising money for Relay For Life in Massachusetts.

When Connie took her daughter to Roswell Park Cancer Institute for treatment, she saw children who were undergoing cancer treatment. She said that, “to see children who have no hair and who are so brave and who are holding onto their little teddy bears and smiling” was a dramatic reminder of the need for a cure for this disease. She said that the treatments for such illnesses as lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and liver cancer mean that more people afflicted with these conditions survive.

“I believe that we can raise enough money and push enough buttons. I want them to find a cure before it’s my turn. I want them to find a cure before it hits my grandkids or this daughter or anyone else. It’s such a devastating disease,” Connie said.

Connie also gives to Relay the deposit money from bottles and cans, which she collects. “The first year, I raised $200 in just cans and bottles. The second year, it was $400, and last year, it was $500. People throw them out,” Connie said. Stefani collects used cell phones, which she sends to a company, which then sends a check in the name of the Amazing Grace team to the American Cancer Society.

“So if anyone has used cell phones and they don’t know what to do with them, they can contact me and I will arrange for pickup.” People who want to donate cell phones can leave a message for her at 754-4592.

This year is the first time that Stefani and Connie are participating in Grand Island’s Relay For Life. Stefani said that, one day at the church that she and Connie attend, St. George Antiochian Church in Niagara Falls, she was talking to Lisa Dudley, who mentioned that she was a cancer survivor and was part of the Amazing Grace team in Grand Island. “I said, can I join your team? I asked her because she is such an inspiration. I’m really proud to be part of that team. Our church has been very supportive of our efforts for Relay.”

Both Stefani and Connie said that they are impressed with Grand Island’s fundraising efforts. “These people have been doing it for five years, and they’ve raised $125,000. That’s incredible. And they’ll top it. They’re hoping to raise $150,000 this year. I think that they will do it,” Connie said.

Stefani added, “We are so honored to be a part of the Grand Island Relay. It’s such a wonderful Relay community. They’ve embraced us. We’ve been involved in Relay for 10 years and have never had this kind of sharing and camaraderie and support that we’ve gotten in just the couple of months that we’ve been involved.”