The PINK BRA-GADE’S HUMBLE BEGINNING….

In 2008, three sisters, Laurie Allyn, Lynne Tsuda and Carol van Ahlers,

Laurie, Carol and Lynne at the finish in Santa Barbara, 2010.

decided to join the Avon Walk in Long Beach, CA in honor of their Aunt, Carol Vogel, who was battling breast cancer. They walked the 39 miles with little training and swear that their muscles survived the onslaught of payment pounding thanks to a 5 minute ice bath the first night of the walk. Then, just by word of mouth, the women were joined by more friends enough to form a team.  Deciding a name took almost as much time as one of the walks, but after much discussion…the Pink Bra-Gade was formed.

The team’s second walk was in 2010 in Santa Barbara, CA.  The team gained several members for this walk, mostly women from Boy Scout Troop 1201 who joined in honor of their fellow Scout Mom, Karen Jackson.  She lost her battle with breast cancer just a few weeks after the walk. This time, the group planned several training walks before the event, making a tradition of their 20 mile walk in Ojai – which involved a trip up the hill from Ventura – a walk around the legendary Ojai Farmer’s Market – and several pitchers of margaritas at the local Mexican restaurant after the trip down the hill.  We also held our first Pink Party at the home of Lisa Vaughn and enjoyed the camaraderie of not only our team mates, but so many women who supported our cause. The team passed on staying at the participant village and found a great house in the hills of Santa Barbara to enjoy while not walking and were joined by several friends who had amazing meals and drinks ready for the team when they returned.

2010 First Day Finish Line in Carpenteria

2012 brought another round through Santa Barbara and another great weekend with friends. More training this time and a few more team members, and most importantly more money raised for the cause.  We held our Pink Party once again with great success and also added, thanks to the generosity of Dan Ventura, the Pint House Goes Pink Event which raised another substantial amount. Everyone made their goal and we enjoyed a beautiful weekend in a “haunted” beach house on the cliffs of Montecito.

2012 Finish Line with Walkers and Team Helpers!

Deciding to make the change to walk in New York City was an exciting adventure for our team. With it our commitment to train better and raise more money than ever before took shape. We exceeded our collective team goal and have enjoyed training walks of mostly 10+ miles nearly every month for the past 18 months. The bond we have formed with our various fundraising events, supporting each other toward reaching our goals, and the memories we have shared have been amazing.

Finish Line – 2014 New York City!

A city across the country from NYC and just north of us, San Francisco was the site of our 2016 walk. We stayed in a fabulous house in the hills of San Rafeal, just a few miles away from the first day’s finish and second day’s start line. Which, worked out well. The weather was cool, breezy across the bridge, but nice for walking. Much of the route was crowded with tourists (or bikes), but location, location, location, made for another great adventure.

Fini’ – Our San Fran walk complete.

We choose to walk every other year, as it is hard to continually ask for the generous support of friends and family with so many other causes that need financial support. We will be at it again in 2018, this time we are headed to Washington DC in May.

The wonderful thing about the Pink Bra-Gade is that we have formed a unique bond while supporting something that has touched each of our lives in numerous ways.  We each have our reasons for walking and we each have gained so much from the experience of banding together and making a difference. To date as a team we have raised well over $120,000, improved our health and fitness and made lifelong friendships. Well worth the blisters!!

Pink is the New Orange – Our 4th Successful Pink Party Event!