Relay For LifeNORMAL – They were a stirring sight, whether you were on the grounds on and around Normal Community West High and Wildcat Stadium, or if you saw marchers on the track circling the football field there from noon Friday, June 26 to noon Saturday, June 27.

A total of 146 teams of between 12-15 people each, participated in the 15th annual Relay For Life of McLean County event with the goal of raising money to fight Cancer, as well as to fund research and advocacy for those afflicted with the disease.

By the time the Relay For Life of McLean County event ended at noon Saturday, it had honored 465 survivors and 285 caregivers, and raised $602,581.61. Relay For Life of McLean County had set a fundraising goal of $620,000 when plans for the 2009 event began last September.

Dana Pace, senior income development coordinator, based at the American Cancer Society’s Peoria office, said he looks at what it has meant for McLean County to have shared this experience for the past 15 years and raised nearly $5 million over that time to eliminate this disease.

In addition to McLean County celebrating 15 years of holding a Relay For Life event, the national Relay For Life organization is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, as well.

“This (area) has supported this event,” Pace said. “This is one of the few relays that has grown significantly almost every single year.”

Pace points to the 400-plus survivors who attended a dinner in their honor, on Friday night, inside Normal Community West High School. “Those are people who have gone through the fight and have been exposed to what we offer them, should they have continuing needs or should they know someone who is going down the same road they’ve been down.”

“Even though the economy is bad, (those who participate in this McLean County event) seem to be very giving and just very supportive of this relay,” said Sharon Kocher, who along with Pam Garrett, co-chaired the event.

Why They Relay: Mary Feit Webber, Cooksville, circled the track in the midday sun, walking as part of the team called “Rhianna’s Bananas,” honoring Rhianna Feit, who lost her battle with Cancer in 2007, at age 28. Rhianna Feit was married to Webber’s nephew, Andy Feit.

Webber said she knew nothing about Relay For Life in 2006, when Rhianna Feit asked her to join “Rhianna’s Bananas.” Webber said getting involved with Relay For Life is “easier to become involved in, (particularly) if you’ve lost a loved one.

“You know what your family has experienced (because of Cancer),” Webber said. “You’re so motivated to make a difference. You know what you’ve been through (and) what other people have been through. You want to help other families. You want to find a cure.

“In that respect, it’s easy to want to be part of the team,” Webber said.

Alice Feit, Chenoa, is another “Rhianna’s Bananas” member said attending Relay For Life is a bonding event for their team.

Sandy Brush, Hudson, is a three-year member of Krenn’s Krew, another team that, like “Rhianna’s Bananas,” has kept coming back to continue the fight against Cancer through this event.

Brush said she has had family that have passed away from the disease, and her husband is continuing to battle it, and is a 6-year survivor. “Thank goodness for the technology they have today, and things have just improved a lot,” she said.

“I think the more people who get involved with this event, the better,” said Patrick Krenn, team captain for Krenn’s Krew, who works at State Farm’s Systems Division. A number of Krenn’s team members are State Farm employees. Krenn’s family was touched by Cancer when his mother passed away from the disease in 1994.

Special Guests Throughout The Event: There were a number of special guests throughout the event. Normal Town Council member Sonja Reece, a Cancer survivor herself, welcomed Relay participants at the opening ceremony Friday and shared how her life had been touched by the disease.

On Friday, Relay participants also heard from Steve Derks, CEO, American Cancer Society’s Illinois Division, offering congratulations for reaching a milestone year. Derks said that research, which is paid for with some of the money raised at relays in the state has prevented 650,000 deaths from Cancer.

Also speaking to participants Friday prior to a “Survivors’ Walk” on the track were Lori Hamilton, and Norm Miller, who were selected as the 2009 Relay’s honorary survivors; and Mike & Mazie Arthofer, selected as the Relay’s honorary caregivers. The Arthofers’ daughter, Michelle, and her husband, Tom, each died from Cancer. Tom passed away in 1991, and Michelle died in June 2008.

Relay participants also heard from Barb Nathan, executive director of the Community Cancer Center, based in Normal.

Nathan spoke from a stage area, in front of which 600 tiny flags had been placed. She said the 600 flags represented the total number of people in McLean County who had been diagnosed with Cancer in 2008.

After speaking to roughly 30 people sitting in front of the stage area at the event on Saturday, Nathan said events like Relay helps to raise money for continuing research to continue to fight Cancer.

She said events like Relay also helps raise awareness of the disease and how people can get involved in trying to eradicate it. “This is a whole community that comes together this weekend, who stops to remember those that they’ve lost, to celebrate those that are on the battle, and also to help the people here realize that they have to make differences in their own lives so that they can decrease their chances of developing Cancer.”

Nathan said Americans are winning the battle over the disease. “The numbers of survivors from Cancer are growing tremendously,” Nathan said. “More than 60 percent of people now survive a Cancer diagnosis. That’s a huge improvement from what it was in years past. We have more and more effective treatments (and) more and more ways to help people along the way in their journey so that the treatments themselves aren’t so difficult.”

Friends, Loved Ones Remembered: As team members rounded the track encircling the football field, they found the track area lined with white bags with candles inside them. Each bag had written on it the name of a person who had either survived or passed away from Cancer. These people were being remembered by friends and loved ones. Relay For Life calls these Luminaria bags and each relay holds a touching Luminaria ceremony shortly after dark.

Some relays read aloud over a public address system the name of each person remembered. But McLean County Relay organizers had over 2,000 Luminaria bags sold, Kocher said. Some people were remembered more than once with Luminaria purchases.

The names of those remembered were projected onto a wide screen at one end of the stadium. As relay participants walked the track during the ceremony, they passed the screen, some stopping to pause if they spotted a familiar name, some stopping at a luminaria with a loved one’s name, as the glow of the candle inside shown brightly in the darkness.

Upcoming Donation Deadlines: Although the 2009 event is over, there are still ways for people to make donations to the event. One way is for team members to turn in money at a Bank Day event, scheduled for Tuesday, July 7 at Central Catholic High School, starting at 5:30p.m.

The other way is through online donations. Pace advised potential donors to make contributions to specific teams by visiting www.relayforlifemclean.com through Aug. 31.

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