Dancer mail: maybe the most important thing a dancer can receive during the 46 hours that make up THON. Dancer mail delivery occurs sometime after the pep-rally. This is right about when the first signs of aches and pains and mental breakdown begin to affect the dancers.

The delivery of dancer mail helps to give the dancers their second wind. Cards, letters and drawings from friends and family lift the spirits of the 700+ dancers and give them the strength they need to finish the last 16 or so hours of THON. There are tears, there are laughs and there are renewed spirits all over the Bryce Jordan Center.

This year’s mail collection ends on THURSDAY at 5:00 p.m. For those of you sending your mail in from afar for a dancer, it must be postmarked by TODAY, Tuesday, February 8th.

To help you with your last-minute dancer mail ideas, Ariel Abramowitz, an Onward State writer and THON 2009 dancer, came up with a list of ideas of great dancer mail for you to send in support of your dancer (and remember, it doesn’t have to be just letters).

• Dr. Scholl’s gel inserts for your shoes (if you don’t have them right from the beginning)
• Scavenger hunts or any other types of puzzles.
• Beverages that aren’t water or Gatorade.
• A Tamagatchi (Ariel’s favorite present from last year)
• Capes, stupid t-shirts, tattoos, stickers
• Anything that will make you laugh.

A couple of things that I would add to my wishlist (Mom and Dad and my friends, listen up!):

• Pop-Tarts (preferably strawberry)
• Sunglasses and an awesome hat
• Super bouncy balls!
• Inside jokes or real heart-felt messages whenever someone does write dancer mail.
• An iPad (oh wait, that’s supposed to be on my Christmas list, my bad)

Hopefully this helps you out and shows you just how important dancer mail is to those dancing for the kids! Ten days until we dance!