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Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Windham Blackout 2026!

 It was another record-breaking year....to say I am proud and relieved and is an understatement...we did it!

 

I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking...here we go

 

On August 26th, a few of us decorated the Bulletin Boards at WMS and Center Schools in the wee hours of the morning!

 



Tee Shirt Sorting on Sunday September 13th

It took us 5 Hours to sort, package up and alphabetize

 


 Bethany made these beautiful Blackout Arrangements for our Schools :)
 

 

On Thursday the 17th, the WHS Soccer Team played their Blackout Game and scored a big BLACKOUT WIN!


 

On Sunday September 20th, we held our Opening Ceremony at Letizio Tower- Hayden sang for us- we said the Pledge of Allegiance and The Pediatric Cancer Flag was raised along with the American Flag and the NH Flag- always one of my favorite events

 




 











Then I grabbed the mums for the week!


 

On Monday the 21st, we held our Tee Shirt Pick up from 3-8pm at the WHS Cafe- it was exhausting but fun and productive.  I had pizza sent in for our volunteers.  The time really did fly by!







and WHS Field Hockey had a nice BLACKOUT WIN!





On Tuesday the 22nd, the Honored Family Tent was put up!  FTW!

 


 
Cheryl, Our Rec Director in Town, Put this Message Up on our Town Sign- Warms My Heart!
 

 Also 
on Tuesday, The WHS Cross Country Team hosted their very first Blackout Meet!
 



 
 

That night, we debuted our "Traveling Raffle Baskets" at Common Man from 4-7 pm.  We also sold some extra shirts we had available!

 




 

On Wednesday, WHS Golf hosted their Blackout Match and WHS Volleyball hosted their Blackout Games too!

 


 



 and we hosted Ladies Night at Friendly Reds in Hudson for the first time ever and it was a smashing success!

 






 














On Thursday, Ann, Jess and I sold some leftover tee shirts at WHS during the lunch periods for those students who missed out on the sale

 


 
That night Rob, Dave and Jamie put up all of our banners- it was Blackout Eve!  The banners of our honored children and title, tee and GOLD sponsors go up at the high school!

 


 I ran around delivering a few last minute tees but was able to enjoy dinner with Eva (after her cross country meet which I attended) and went to bed early to rest up for our big day!

 

 

Friday- The Big Day!

 



I took Eva and her besties to Revitalize (one of our sponsors) for their special Blackout Teas!  While there, we spotted so many Blackout TEES already so I had to snap some pics!








 and then started getting pics all day of everyone in their shirts- warms my heart!

 















































Lea and I went for our customary lunch at Red's :)
 
 
and we got all sentimental...this day tends to do that...

 
and then it was time to go.....and get to work....

Love getting to the field early to admire the work of so many people and get decorating...


 



with Jon, our AD






Family Flowers RTG thanks to A&A

Food Vendors Arriving





Our Honored Families Tent thanks to Access Tent




The Honored Children Banners are one of my favorite parts of Blackout- last year Natalie was at Boston Children's and couldn't be there...this year she is in remission and she was able to attend with her whole family in tow...that made me cry hard at halftime :/ Happy Tears...Happy Tears!







 If you build it...they will come...and they truly did...over 5,000 of them!

















Sound Check with our Singer Evie


 Bethany and I were interviewed by WMUR and afterwards, I started getting still shots and the video from friends...hate hearing myself but SO HAPPY for the exposure it gave BLACKOUT :)




 





The Procession...
 

 
 
Halftime...The Best Part Of The Night...When We Recognize Our Honored Families on the Field
 
We had our SAU Leadership Team and Our School Marshalls Presenting The Flowers This Year :)
 











After halftime is when we start to exhale...
The JAGS beat our biggest rival Salem 21-7- it was an incredible game on an incredible night!
 
Cleanup was pretty seamless with all of our student volunteers and before heading home...we snapped our customary committee pic....this fearless group!
 

 
 Grateful...simply grateful...can't wait for the final numbers!  Thank you Windham!
 




22 comments:

Maria Rineer said...

What wonderful photos to document your incredible fundraiser efforts. The community coming together has to be heartwarming (as well as impactful for those who benefit from the generosity of the town). Great job! You can tell this event is a huge undertaking and YOU made it possible.

Holly said...

Aww thank you Maria! My heart is squished- there is truly no better feeling!

natalie said...

Wow! This is truly touching. What y'all do is amazing. It's tragically beautiful. Tragic in that you even have to do it but beautiful that you can. You are making such a difference. Your loyalty to your community and the cause every year is inspiring. Way to go!

Kim Carberry said...

Congrats! It sounds like you did a fantastic job with all the organising! Well done to everyone taking part and fantastic photos! How wonderful that everyone came together to support such a great cause.

Alli said...

All your hard work and such a giving heart are amazing. Keep being you! Awesome job.

Joanne said...

Aw, what a truly fabulous wrap up of all that you and your team did. It's amazing to see the community support and to think how much it grows each year.

The Glorious Mundane// Suzanne Hines said...

This is incredible! It brought tears to my eyes. A dear friend of ours, Elijah is currently 1.5 years into his battle and when it hits that close to home, things like this really impress me! Thank you for all that you do for this amazing event!!!

Joyce said...

Looks so amazing! What a wonderful week of events for a very worthy cause. Congratulations on making this all come together.

Marilyn said...

It looks like it was a success from the leading up to Friday till the end! And look at you on the news! Great job on such an important cause and I love seeing your whole community support this.

Sunshine and Books said...

Holly! This post brought tears to my eyes to see all the good you are doing for these children and their families. What a wonderful reason for your whole town to come together! Way to go!!!

Natasha said...

Holly -- Windam is so lucky to have you. Those families with kids fighting cancer must feel so supported and seen during this whole time. What incredible work it must take to get the whole town to show up. And you did it!

Laura @ Our Grand Lives said...

You must be so proud of all that was accomplished! What a meaningful mission you all share and I love the way your whole community embraces this effort and rises to the occasion year after year. It must be so exciting to see the momentum of it all and to realize you've been such an integral part of it all. Plus, the purpose behind it all is so powerful and important. Your heart must be bursting!

Holly said...

Thank you Natalie :)

Holly said...

Thank you Kim :)

Holly said...

Thank you Alli :)

Holly said...

Thank you Joanne :)

Holly said...

Will pray for Elijah- thank you Suzanne!

Holly said...

Thank you Joyce :)

Holly said...

Thank you Marilyn :)

Holly said...

Thank you Sarah and appreciate your support XO

Holly said...

Thank you Natasha! XO

Holly said...

Thank you so much Laura!

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