Walkin' All Night Long

Relay for Life raises

money for cancer

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- For many, the annual Relay For Life is a yearly tradition.

Each year, cancer survivors come to the Brown County fairgrounds with their families and caregivers to walk around the clock to raise money for cancer research, education and advocacy.

The Relay For Life was first started in Washington State by a doctor who raised around $20,000 simply by walking. The idea has spread across the country ever since and it's been in Brown County since 1995.

Starting in the evening, the teams of walkers and their supporters gather in the grandstand at the fairgrounds with several different games and booths set up in front of several donated campers. A ring of 6,000 luminarias outlines the path that the walkers will take once the event starts.

The event's formal kickoff came at 7 p.m. A trio of New Ulm high school senior girls sang the national anthem. Co-organizer Lynn Rawley paid a short tribute to the late high school counselor Jim Zetah, who died of cancer in February of 2002, by reading one of Zetah's poems.

The relay began when emcee Tim Stadick called the many cancer survivors, their caregivers and their families to the microphone. As in years past, each survivor gave their name and the number of years they've been fighting cancer. The ages ranged from teenagers to senior citizens, the number of years spanned 36 years to 11 months.

Many of the teams came from Sleepy Eye Medical Center, Brown County, Kraft, Hy-Vee, Citizens Bank, Norwood Promotional Products, Cash Wise Foods, AMPI and New Ulm Medical Center.

They came dressed like soldiers fighting the war on cancer, cops looking to arrest cancer and bathers who hoped to wash cancer out.

Most teams are walking in shifts with participants taking hour-long shifts until the end of the relay.

The Relay For Life had raised $100,055 by 8 p.m. and the total had climbed to $108,000 by 9 p.m, already exceeding last year's totals with nine hours left to walk.

Guest speaker and honorary Relay For Life chair Barb Fenske of New Ulm talked about her experiences with cancer shortly before the luminarias were lit.

"I used to say I was battling cancer. I don't want to do that anymore, so now I say I'm living with it," she said.

She is presently one of 61 people nationwide receiving a drug treatment for cancer and one of an even smaller group of patients that has had positive results. Undergoing that treatment at the National Cancer Institute in Washington D.C. taught Fenske about her support network within her family. She learned that she is still the same person she was before her diagnosis, although she has to make an effort to help others feel comfortable around her.

"I had two choices. I could roll over and say 'Poor me' or I could get out and fight. I met only one patient with a bad attitude at NCI."

Sue Dietz of New Ulm got involved during the relay's first year as a member of one of the teams and she's been involved for all nine years that the Relay For Life has existed in Brown County. Dietz initially got involved because mother had cancer, her father had leukemia and a friend had breast cancer. Dietz said next year's relay will have a special meaning since it will mark the 10th anniversary of the first Relay For Life.

"This is fun," she said. "We've seen it grow from $16,000 in the first year and last year was $105,000."

This year's Relay For Life has a total of 228 walkers walking for 26 teams that come from all parts of Brown County. Diane Barrer of Nicollet came out to the relay to walk with Team Kraft, which is walking in the relay for its first time this year. Barrer she decided to join because she has relatives who have cancer.

"This is a good cause," she said, standing under the Team Kraft tent.

Joan Lindholm of New Ulm said she and her family come out to the relay each year as a family tradition.

"It's just meaningful to realize that all of these bags represent people who have survived or lost their lives to cancer," she said, looking at the luminarias.

The Relay For Life concludes with a closing ceremony this morning at 6:30 followed with a breakfast for team members.