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PROVINCETOWN GUIDE
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| DIRECTORY |
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Provincetown :: Thursday, September 2nd 2010
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Swim for Life
An Annual Celebration
By Kahrin Deines
August 20th, 2007
Get ready to grab your paddle, don a wetsuit, or stand at the harbor’s edge and cheer because one of the most important Cape community events of the year is just about here. The 20th Annual Swim for Life, a celebration and fundraiser that benefits a number of vital community organizations on Cape Cod, will occur on September 8.
| Crowds gather at the Boatslip Resort to cheer the swimmers across the harbor and, after the swim, there is an annual Mermaid Brunch at the Boatslip from 12 to 3 p.m. |
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Jay Critchley, an artist and activist, started the annual Swim for Life event in 1988 to celebrate the healing waters and ecology of the Provincetown Harbor, as well as raise money for local AIDs services. Every year since, swimmers and paddlers have undertaken a journey across the harbor, from Long Point to the Boatslip Resort, to physically demonstrate their love for life, health and community.
Organized by the Provincetown Community Compact, Swim for Life has evolved into a large-scale community benefit for AIDs, women’s health and youth organizations, last year raising over $160,000 for a number of beneficiaries. In addition to playing an important fundraising role, Swim for Life is also a festival of healing, with a number of scheduled events and rituals that bring people from far flung areas together in a celebration of life.
|  Photo by Kahrin Deines. |
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Each year Swim for Life participants inscribe Prayer Ribbons with the names of loved ones whom they wish to celebrate. These six-foot ribbons are then hung from the deck of the Boatslip Resort on the day of the event, creating a colorful visual testament to the energies and hopes of the swimmers and kayakers. Crowds gather at the Boatslip Resort to cheer the swimmers across the harbor and, after the swim, there is an annual Mermaid Brunch at the Boatslip from 12 to 3 p.m. The last three years, Swim for Life has also been held in conjunction with the Provincetown Schooner Regatta, which brings many beautiful schooners to the harbor.
The night before the swim, there is also an annual Celebration of Life Concert at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House. The Celebration of Life Concert was founded by the pianist and composer John W. Thomas in the 1990’s to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost to AIDs.
Beneficiaries of this year’s Swim for Life include Helping Our Women, the AIDs Support Group of Cape Cod, Outer Cape Health Services, the Cape and Islands Gay Straight Youth Alliance, the Lower Cape Ambulance Association and the Provincetown Rescue Squad.
Swim for Life will occur on September 8 at 11 a.m. at the Boatslip Resort. To find out more about Swim for Life, go to www.swim4life.org. The Boatslip Resort is located at 161 Commercial Street.
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