Field of Flags signifies big weekend in BP
Volunteers of all stripes turned out on a steamy Sunday afternoon to help the BP Cancer Group install its Field of Flags. BPHS student-athletes and others erected 250 flag poles, many of them with multiple messages to honor or memorialize a loved one with cancer. The two-day cancer auction is Sept. 6-7. Staff photo by Kay Fate
As surely as the leaves turn orange and red in the fall, Blooming Prairie turns pink.
The Field of Flags that marks the approach of a big weekend went up Sunday, kicking off the 23rd annual fundraiser in the battle against cancer.
The Blooming Prairie Cancer Group will hold its auctions and other events Sept. 5-7 “under the big tent” at the Pizza Cellar and Cue Company on the corner of Main Street and Second Avenue Northeast.
The group sold more flags than the available 250 poles it uses in the sea of pink, said Connie Trom, one of the organizers.
“I’m just always astonished at the generosity of people,” she said.
The flags are $10 each and are labeled in honor –or in memory – of loved ones. Members of Blooming Prairie High School sports teams help the group install the flags each year.
While pink flags are the most easily recognizable and plentiful, making them both accessible and affordable, flags symbolizing all forms of cancer are also displayed.
“Everybody in our group has had cancer hit home in a significant way,” said Trom, who lost her husband 11 years ago to glioblastoma. She lost her sister to the same type of cancer two years ago.
The weekend kicks off Sept. 5 with gun Bingo. Tickets – which usually sell out – are available at Coordes Gun Shop in Lansing, the Pizza Cellar, or by contacting Trom at 507-456-8431.
A highlight of the night will be an auction for vouchers to apply toward airfare for an African safari.
On the auction block throughout the weekend will be several trips, including one to Hawaii, one to Florida and one to Las Vegas, with vouchers for airfare; quilts and multiple other hand-crafted items; a reserved table for six at the 2025 designer purse Bingo; an autographed Tommy Kramer Vikings jersey; original artwork and much more.
Raffle tickets will be sold for a new 2022 CFMOTO four-wheeler, donated by Al and Harriet Severson.
Steve Prihoda’s family and friends have once again donated for a cash raffle.
On Sept. 7, the Blooming Prairie High School football team will host the Fillmore Central Falcons in a game at 11 a.m.; fundraising events will be held at the field and the players will wear pink.
“This is such a fun and meaningful event for all of us in Blooming Prairie and the surrounding communities,” said Mandy Doocy, treasurer of the BP Cancer Group. “Cancer has affected us all in some way, and this just a great opportunity to do what we can to help fight.”
The group has raised more than $1 million over the years; last year’s events raised more than $100,000.
The Field of Flags is an important reminder of the work being done and the people being honored, Trom said.
“I’ve been doing this for many years, and I still get teary-eyed driving by,” she said.
As surely as the leaves turn orange and red in the fall, Blooming Prairie turns pink.
The Field of Flags that marks the approach of a big weekend went up Sunday, kicking off the 23rd annual fundraiser in the battle against cancer.
The Blooming Prairie Cancer Group will hold its auctions and other events Sept. 5-7 “under the big tent” at the Pizza Cellar and Cue Company on the corner of Main Street and Second Avenue Northeast.
The group sold more flags than the available 250 poles it uses in the sea of pink, said Connie Trom, one of the organizers.
“I’m just always astonished at the generosity of people,” she said.
The flags are $10 each and are labeled in honor –or in memory – of loved ones. Members of Blooming Prairie High School sports teams help the group install the flags each year.
While pink flags are the most easily recognizable and plentiful, making them both accessible and affordable, flags symbolizing all forms of cancer are also displayed.
“Everybody in our group has had cancer hit home in a significant way,” said Trom, who lost her husband 11 years ago to glioblastoma. She lost her sister to the same type of cancer two years ago.
The weekend kicks off Sept. 5 with gun Bingo. Tickets – which usually sell out – are available at Coordes Gun Shop in Lansing, the Pizza Cellar, or by contacting Trom at 507-456-8431.
A highlight of the night will be an auction for vouchers to apply toward airfare for an African safari.
On the auction block throughout the weekend will be several trips, including one to Hawaii, one to Florida and one to Las Vegas, with vouchers for airfare; quilts and multiple other hand-crafted items; a reserved table for six at the 2025 designer purse Bingo; an autographed Tommy Kramer Vikings jersey; original artwork and much more.
Raffle tickets will be sold for a new 2022 CFMOTO four-wheeler, donated by Al and Harriet Severson.
Steve Prihoda’s family and friends have once again donated for a cash raffle.
On Sept. 7, the Blooming Prairie High School football team will host the Fillmore Central Falcons in a game at 11 a.m.; fundraising events will be held at the field and the players will wear pink.
“This is such a fun and meaningful event for all of us in Blooming Prairie and the surrounding communities,” said Mandy Doocy, treasurer of the BP Cancer Group. “Cancer has affected us all in some way, and this just a great opportunity to do what we can to help fight.”
The group has raised more than $1 million over the years; last year’s events raised more than $100,000.
The Field of Flags is an important reminder of the work being done and the people being honored, Trom said.
“I’ve been doing this for many years, and I still get teary-eyed driving by,” she said.