'Bras Over Bay' kicks off breast cancer awareness activites

PANAMA CITY — Two tractors pulled metal chains taut Friday morning, suspending nearly 6,000 donated bras high in the air to serve as a “bra-ument” for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The Bras Over Bay event for the third year brought together volunteers, sponsors and members of the community to raise awareness by raising some eyebrows. The event was created and hosted by the cast of “That Guy Kramer” the morning radio show of Island 106 FM.

“We created this event because we wanted to raise awareness — and thousands of bras staring you down on 15th Street is pretty hard to miss,” said co-host Holly O’Conner.

The bras can be seen in the parking lot of Knology located at the intersection of U.S. 98 and Jenks Avenue. The monument will remain up until Oct. 7, at which time the bras will be taken down and given to Catholic Charities to be washed and donated.

“The importance of this to me, personally, is because my mother is a breast cancer survivor,” O’Conner said. “She has shown me how to be a strong woman, and we wanted to do an event that would give back to the community.”

For nearly a month, various locations around Bay County accepted bra donations. Everything from Christmas themed night gowns to leopard bras were found in the donation baskets.

“It blows my mind every year how supportive the community is when it comes to breast cancer awareness,” said host Steven Kramer. “The amazing thing is all the stories we hear about breast cancer — you forget how many of your neighbors and friends are effected.”

Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, according to the Center for Disease Control. In 2006, there were more than 191,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,000 women lost their battle with the cancer.

There are several other breast cancer awareness events that will take place during the month of October including the Think Pink Breast Cancer Survivor Fashion Show. The fashion show will feature breast cancer survivor models, and the free event will be Oct. 5 at the Arnold High School Auditorium, 550 N. Alf Coleman Road in Panama City Beach. To RSVP to the fashion show, call 747-3600.

In addition, the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K Walk will be presented by Women’s Imaging Center at Bay Radiology on Oct. 9 at Aaron Bessant Park in Panama City Beach. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and the walk begins at 9:30 a.m. To learn more about the walk or to sign up online, visit makingstrides.acsevents.org/panamacity.