CURWENSVILLE – The baton was passed from last year to this one as Clearfield-Curwensville Relay for Life began again in Curwensville. This year’s theme was “25 Years of Hope” as the relay hit its 25 year.
The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life began shortly after noon Saturday at the Riverside Stadium. Volunteers lead the teams around the track with three flags reading “fight back”, “remember” and “celebration”.
Hope looks down upon the track from up in the stands. During the Luminaria the sign was lit up. (Steven McDole)
The goal of Relay for Life is to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Each team either at the relay or beforehand holds a fundraiser. Each participant is encouraged to get enough sponsors to raise $100 per participant.
This year at this relay 29 teams joined the effort. Teams who hold fundraisers at the relay varied between raffles, games and selling items such as water and candy. The relay comes in where each team will have someone on the track between noon to 8:00 a.m. the following day.
Later in the day there was a Survivor Lap. Survivor’s of cancer were encouraged to make a lap around the stadium.
“Even if you were diagnosed yesterday you are a survivor today,” said Darlene Rowles, ACS volunteer and member of the local Relay for Life committee.
The seventeenth local relay for life neared the end of the night with a Luminaria ceremony. The Luminaria was a celebration where candles were laid alongside the track for a person who either has or had cancer. Each candle was placed upon being asked, but a $10 donation was preferred.
Two girls, “hush angels”, lead visitors around the track in silence as names of the candles were read over the speaker system. A projector showed the names and occasionally photos of those who had Luminaria candles.
Luminaria candles burn inside of paper bags. The names of the person being honored and who was honoring them are written on the bag. (Steven McDole)
