Relay for Life plans to earn $10,000 for cancer

By Carrie Helms, Clarendon Enterprise 

From Friday night to the wee small hours of Saturday morning, more than 200 walkers on 15 teams will be walking in Clarendon’s Relay for Life to raise $10,000 for cancer research.

The Relay for Life is an all-night event sponsored by the American Cancer Society to raise funds for cancer research, education, and treatment costs for underprivileged patients.

“Relay for Life is a nationwide project,” said Dawn Watson, Donley County Extension Agent and Chairperson of the ACS Committee, “But each community tailors it to fit their needs.”

Preparations have been going on for months, but the real fun begins Friday, August 2 at 7 p.m. at the Clarendon College track.

“The walk begins at 7:00 with a Survivor’s Lap for those who have survived cancer,” Watson said. “It will be a pretty emotional event.”

Beginning with the second lap, each team must have a walker on the track at all times and trade at 30-minute intervals for the entire 12 hours.

“Teams will be awarded for most laps walked and most money raised,” Watson said. “A lot of them will have fundraisers going on all night long until 6 a.m.”

Teams will be selling everything from drinks and snacks to glow -sticks for fun after dark.  Each team will also set up a campsite to be judged.

“It will be competitive right up until the last minute,” Watson said. “The campsite judges can be bribed, and all that bribe money will go to ACS.”

The committee has scheduled live entertainment with musical guests, cowboy poetry, a live broadcast from KEFH, and maybe even a bachelor/bachelorette auction.

“We’ve set up several tournaments like horseshoes, washers, volleyball, 42, and a dunking booth,” Watson said. “We want to have a real family atmosphere so even if people aren’t walking, we want them to come out and have a good time.”

At 10 p.m. there will be a Luminary Service where people can purchase a light in honor or in memory of a loved one who has died of cancer.

“There is no one whose life has not been touched in some way by cancer,” Watson said, “and the service is just another way to honor the ones we love.”

Breakfast, cooked by cancer survivor Alan Graham, will be served at 6:30 a.m. followed by awards.

“It will be a fun time, but also a very emotional night,” Watson said. “My eleven-year-old nephew just recently had his leg amputated because of a three-year battle with cancer.”

Watson’s team, Keaton’s Crusaders, will be walking in his honor.