Relay for Life raises big bucks for cancer research
July 14, 2010
By Laura Geggel
More than 330 people slapped on hats and sunscreen to shield themselves from the hot sun at the eighth annual Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life July 10. Neither the heat nor the struggling economy stopped the participants from raising, $111,400, about 85 percent of their goal of $130,000.
Relay participants have until Aug. 31 to reach their goal, relay spokeswoman Lisa Newell said. Proceeds from the event benefit the American Cancer Society.
Sharon Larson (left) walks with her husband Dale Larson and her friend Sharon Posey during the survivor’s lap at the 2010 Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life. By Laura Geggel
Before the relay began, participants listened as Newell read names of 21 participants who had raised at least $1,000 for the relay, amid clapping and whistling from the audience at Centennial Fields in Snoqualmie.
The clapping continued as Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life veterans and cancer survivors Sharon Larson and Sharon Posey cut the ribbon, signaling the start of the relay.
Their team, the Snoqualmie Valley Dy-No-Mites raised $17,100, more than any other team.
With the Everett High School Navy Junior ROTC Color Guard leading the way, the survivor’s walk began, with 60 proud people wearing lavender-colored survivor shirts.
“It’s hard not to cry,” Posey said.
People walked at the relay for different reasons. Mount Si High School student Nolan Wolgamott said he came to walk with his friends, while Mount Si student Michael Blackmon said he walked for his mother, a breast cancer survivor.
“I think it’s really great that everyone is willing to support things like this,” Blackmon said.
DeAnna Haverfield, who works at the North Bend QFC, said she came with her sister and daughter to walk with Team Q.
“It’s amazing what they’ve done, all of these teams,” she said, surveying the tents and displays. “A lot of the walkers, the survivors, are people we see every day.”
Across the field, a group of survivors ate dinner. Cathy Westerlund, of North Bend, said doctors diagnosed her with breast cancer six years ago. Her friend, Sue Beauvais, urged her to walk the survivor’s lap at the 2004 Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life.
“I said, ‘I just started chemo,’ and she said, ‘Well, you’re surviving it,’” Westerlund said.
Now, with her cancer in remission, Westerlund comes to the relay to support other people who have been affected by cancer.
“It’s just a way to give back and to hope that other people don’t have to go through what I did,” Westerlund said.
Bonnie Jo, of North Bend, said both of her parents and many of her closest friends are cancer survivors.
“I think about how lucky they are and I am that they’re still around,” Jo said.
One of her recent mammograms showed some unusual results, and she said it was hard to wait for the results without knowing a definite answer about her condition.
“They say early detection is everything, so I’ll do whatever it takes,” she said, adding that she’s preparing herself for the worst, but hoping for the best.
The relay ended the following morning, after a moving luminaria ceremony that night. At the ceremony, participants wrote the names of friends and family on paper lunch bags and placed tea candles inside, lighting up the bags as tiny memorials or support messages.
“It was absolutely beautiful, very peaceful,” Haverfield said. “It was done in silence. They kept replacing candles all night long, so they burned until daylight.”
Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
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