MAGGIE GILROY
Assistant Reverb Editor
The Steele Hall Fieldhouse was filled with the spirit of celebration, remembrance, and the strength to fight back as Relay For Life kicked-off Saturday evening. Participants stayed up 12 hours straight in honor of those who have fought cancer as they raised money for a cancer-free future.
The night began with an opening ceremony, hosted by event chair Amanda Sutter. Sutter spoke about her own personal reason for relaying, becoming tearful as she spoke about her aunt’s battle with cancer.
“While we all have a unique reason for being here,” said Sutter to the crowd. “We all have one thing very much in common. We all want to make a difference in the fight against cancer.”
Participants then took part in the Survivor Ceremony, with a speech by FSA Café supervisor Loretta Dean. Dean kept her humor and smile as she spoke about her experience battling cancer.
“It has been a long road, and a tough road, but it’s definitely do-able,” said Dean. Carrying her trademark multi-colored bag, Dean used her lint brush and box of tissues to explain the changes she faced during her battle with cancer including the loss of her hair and a constant runny nose.
“You find out who your friends are, you find out who good people are and I tell you what, everyone steps up to help you. And it has been wonderful, thank you,” said Dean at the conclusion of her speech.
“She’s a fighter,” said Jenny Bollen, team captain of the FSA fighters, which was formed in honor of Dean. “And that’s what we’re here to do, is to celebrate the fighters, and the survivors and the people who we’ve lost.”
Present at the event was Dean’s family and her young grandson, Hunter, who could be seen running
around the gym, enjoying the food and activities the event had to offer.
Dean and the other survivors present at the relay then took a lap around the Fieldhouse to kick-off the event. They were then joined by caregivers for the next lap followed by the remainder of the participants.
Throughout the relay, teams were encouraged to have one member walk the track at all times. The 12-hour event was modeled after the journey of a cancer patient. Teams also hosted their own activities to raise money for the event, including cookie decorating, board game rentals, bandana making and bake sales among many others.
Throughout the relay, several performers took the stage to renew the energy of the crowd. This included a capella groups Some Like it Hot and The Riveters, as well as drag queen Kimmi Moore (Harrison Schenkel), and musical artist John Higgins. Several activities including “Relay Rugby,” Zumba, and a water pong tournament kept the crowd awake and engaged as well.
In addition to the survivor ceremony, the event was also highlighted by various ceremonies including the luminaria ceremony where those who lost their battle and those currently battling cancer were horored with luminarias. A fight back ceremony, led by Dr. Sherrie Mason, educated participants on ways to prevent cancer. Preventative measures can be found on cancer.org.
The event concluded with a Chinese lantern ceremony, where participants went outside to send Chinese lanterns into the air in order to “light the sky with hope.” It was a beautiful image which left participants in a hopeful mood for the future.
Prior to the event, participants raised over $22,000. As of Monday, they are well over $30,000 and are continuing to accept donations until August.
“It’s nice to see all these people turn out for a good cause,” said Bollen, captain of the FSA Fighters. “Even during the luminaria [ceremony], when every- body was walking at once, just looking across and seeing like 100 people was pretty cool to see for one cause and one reason.”
After months of strenuous planning, Sutter was extremely pleased with the outcome of the event.
“A lot of people have come up to me and told me how awesome the event was, that they’ve really
enjoyed it,” said Sutter. “Our Chinese lantern ceremony was a huge success and it got people to stay
through the night, which was our hope. It made a lot more people stay this year than last year … and we’re really excited for next year.”