The Carol Dyer Memorial began with the death of a beloved children’s librarian and became a quarter-century tradition of honoring everyone touched by cancer.
Aug 09, 2026
BAR HARBOR—By the time the light was leaving Bar Harbor on Saturday night, the names had begun to glow.
Volunteers walked the paths of the Village Green with candles and lighters, bending over white paper bags one at a time. Each bag carried a name. Some belonged to people still fighting. Some belonged to people who had survived. Some belonged to people who were gone.
For 25 years, the names have gathered here, written with marker on the side of white bags.
They come back every summer in the soft dark, carried by people who remember them, people who loved them, people who are still here, people who are rooting for them.
On Saturday night, as the sun’s light faded and the moon rose, volunteers organized by the MDI YWCA with help from MDI Health walked through the paths on the Village Green, backs bent, lighter in hand, illuminating one white paper bag after another. On each bag was a name.
Each bag represented a person who had cancer or has cancer.
Each bag represented someone who is loved.
Each bag represented someone who is remembered.
On a park bench closer to the Reel Pizza side of the green, back in 2023, a woman sobbed into a man’s shoulder, her long brown hair obscuring her face, but not her words, not her sorrow.
“There are just so many,” she cried.
“I know,” he soothed. “I know.”
This year, there were new names along with some that have been there for the 25 years that the event has occurred. There are people who have died. There are people who are in remission. There are people fighting and going to treatments.
The event began, according to Ann Worrick in 2023, “As a way to honor our dear friend Carol Dyer after she lost her battle with brain cancer in June of 2001. Inspired by a local Relay for Life event, particularly the luminaries ceremony held during the walk, we got to work planning our first event. It started out as a small gathering to provide us with an outlet to both celebrate and grieve. And we have become inspired and humbled by how much it has grown over the years.”
It has kept on going.
The goal, according to the YWCA’s website, is to “ensure that local patients have access not only to high-quality cancer care close to home, but also to the support and compassion they deserve every step of the way.”
Back in 2016, the Bar Harbor YBs (a group of local women) said that the Carol Dyer Memorial “Light the Way to a Cure” was coming to an end after 15 years, but it’s 2026 and the candles are being lit. Those YBs have lost some of their initial members to cancer, too.
Carol Dyer was a beloved children’s librarian at the Jesup Memorial Library. She had a brain tumor and died in 2001. Each year on the village green, luminaries glow along the walkways. On each bag is a name. The names are of a litany of friends and loved ones.
No, that’s wrong.
The bags are a litany of those who are loved and who have been impacted by cancer.
Each year, every year, more people in the community and in Maine have cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2026, there will be 10,680 new cancer diagnoses in Maine and 3,560 deaths.
From the gazebo, before the candles were lit, April Cough McGuire sang the “Glory of Love.”
As she sang the lyric, “we did it all for the glory of love,” there was a small gasp, a poignant moment. A woman’s lip trembled. Her eyes closed for a half of a second and then she steadied herself. Nearby, people hugged. Someone smiled in greeting. Introductions were made.
In each of the songs she sang there were resonances, places where the lyrics, such as in Taylor Swift’s “Peter” where lines took on a slightly different—and sometimes deeper meaning.
“‘You said you were going to grow up,’” she sings. “‘And then you were going to come find me. You said you were going to grow up.’”
The annual event on the Village Green is meant to honor those who are surviving cancer and those who have not. It’s about celebration for those who are here and honor for those who are not.
There were hugs and smiles, pats on the back, and murmurs.
“My brother’s here somewhere,” a man said gruffly. “I’ve got to find him.”
Geoffrey Schuller explained as he sat at a table with markers and candles that he’d had relatives die of cancer. He’s almost died twice himself in the last couple years, not from cancer but other things.
He’s still here and he’s been volunteering since it began, he said proudly. He’ll be doing it for as long as he continues and as long as the event continues.
It’s a purpose, he explained.
It’s a way to help. It’s a way to remember.
Back in 2023, one man lighting candle after candle offered another man sitting on a bench a chance to light the luminary of his loved one himself. “Would you like to?”
The man’s lips pressed in for a second before he gave a quick nod. “Yes, yes, I would. Thank you. What do I do?”
You remember.
You light the flame.
You move to the next one and you read their name either aloud or in your head.
And you do it again.
Since the event began, by selling the luminaries at $10 a piece, well over $75,000 has been raised for the American Cancer Society. Each year bags can be purchased before or during the event.
Many, including MDI Health’s CEO Christina Maguire give readings. This year’s proceeds benefit MDI Health’s Breast Health Center and the Oncology Department.
In August 2002, the original organizers (Vickie Bence, Alice Clair, Erin Jordan, Kate and Rob Jordan, Sue and Andy Kropff, Gail and Rick Leiser, Anna and Paul Murphy, Sue Murphy and Jeff Erickson, Line and Richard Rechholtz, Andrea Horner Semels, Julie and Greg Veilleux, Ann and Russ Worrick wrote a letter to the Mount Desert Islander.
“So many people are affected by cancer, as witnessed in the incredible number of luminaries surrounding the village green Sunday evening,” they wrote. “All we wanted to do was make a positive mark in the fight against cancer. Little did we realize how many others felt the same way.”
All photos: Carrie Jones/BHS
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To find out more about the YWCA MDI, click here.
More about the Carol Dyer event is here.
Follow us on Facebook or BlueSky or Instagram. And as a reminder, you can easily view all our past stories and press releases here.
Bar Harbor Story is a mostly reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for being here with us and being part of our community too!
Thanks for reading Bar Harbor Story! This post is public so feel free to share it.
If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below.
If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story, you can! Learn more here.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR COMMUNITY
Discover more from Bar Harbor Story
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.