On Friday, April 4, Light The Lake returned to the Silver Lakeside. The event has been on hiatus since the pandemic and is now making its return with help from seniors Atlas Kosedag and Charlie Patel. Both seniors organized this as a part of their Senior Ventures project with faculty member Jordan West. It also counts as the annual senior service project, a project in which the entire senior class volunteers with and helps put on.
Light The Lake is a fundraiser event to bring awareness to those who have fought, are currently fighting, or have lost their lives to cancer. All the proceeds made from t-shirt sales and the event itself go to two non-profit organizations: Cancer Navigators and Summit Quest.
The entire community of Rome was invited to participate in this event, not just Darlington families and students. Attendees were met with a good time through food trucks, live music and craft activities like tie-die, bracelet making and a photo booth. The senior class worked each of these stations alongside the Servant Leadership Committee.
When folks arrived, they could enjoy food and drink from student-run lemonade stands, burgers straight from the grill, or fresh-baked goods from Bossman Bakes, by senior Whit Molnar. Kids and students could then go by a craft station. They could tie-die pencil pouches, make bracelets or paint on the mural. Senior Olivia Wheat was working the tie-dye station.
“It was a lot of fun helping out,” Wheat said. “We soaked the bags in some buckets, and the kids got to pick what color zipper they wanted from a lot of choices. The kids used plastic squirt bottles to die the bags. We had colors like hot pink, purple, blue, yellow, and even black.”
Wheat was happy with her classes Senior Service Project and found it less as service and more as a fun weekend event.
“It was cool to watch the kids be creative while we got to help out the community.”
At 8 PM, everyone lined up around the speakers while Patel and Kosedag shared a few words, and then Director of the Upper School Chad Woods read aloud the names for the Honor Walk. A google form was sent out prior where students and faculty could submit names of loved ones whom passed from cancer, are currently fighting, or who did fight. The bagpiper led as people followed for a lap around the lake.
White paper bags, or luminaries, were made in various art classes and advisories to light up the lake. Students decorated them with names or encouraging messages and then small, fake candles were placed inside of them. This created a beautiful scene of lights circling around the lake.
The event was a smashing success, with people from all over Rome coming to celebrate, and a ton of money was raised for the organizations. Senior and student body president Atlas Kosedag was happy with its turnout.
“This event has a special place in my heart and I’m happy I had a hand in its return,” Kosedag said. “It felt awesome to help people remember and honor their loved ones with this event, and just bring the community together. It was a beautiful night.”