Track renovations move 2015 Relay for Life indoors

In 2011, the Jackson County Relay for Life was forced indoors by the threat of inclement weather.

This year’s Relay — the 22nd annual fund-raising event for the American Cancer Society — has also been moved indoors because the event’s regular site, the Jackson Heights High School track, is being renovated.

Carol Buehler, one of the orga­nizers of the annual event, said this year’s Relay will begin at 7 p.m. in the JHHS gymnasium, where par­ticipants spend the evening walk­ing, jogging or run­ning around the track to symbolize the struggle against cancer. Those who are fighting cancer or who have won the battle against cancer share the spotlight with family members and friends of those who have been felled by cancer, Buehler said.

This year’s event  will be­gin at 7 p.m. with a flag ceremony, com­ments from honorary chairman Kobe Black and the Survivor Lap, in which those who have defeated cancer get to make the evening’s first trip around the track. Opening ceremonies also include a survi­vor’s speech, the start of a fund-raising auction and the “caregiver lap.” Miscellaneous games are set to begin at 8:30 p.m.

At 10 p.m., luminaries will be lit using battery-operated candles, Buehler said, and the names of those being hon­ored (those who are struggling with, or who have de­feated, cancer) or remembered (those who have lost the battle to cancer) will be read out loud. Lumi­naries are available for $10 each and may also be purchased that evening. That will be followed by a “fight back” ceremony at mid­night.

A closing ceremony will be held at 12:35 a.m. as a way to remember the lives of those lost and to cele­brate the commitment of all team members and volunteers to fight against the disease. The event will end at 1 a.m.

According to the American Can­cer Society Web site, 10 teams and 49 participants have so far raised $18,292.41 for the event as of Fri­day afternoon. This total may not reflect all participants, teams and donations, it was reported.

This marks the third year that the Jackson County Relay for Life has been on a shorter schedule. In pre­vious years, the event had run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., but for the 20th-annual event here, the schedule was shortened due to a decline in par­ticipation in the overnight hours.

Cancer survivors and caregivers who would like to take part in the Relay are encouraged to contact the Topeka American Cancer Society Office at 1-877-227-2345; or Matt Everett at (785) 273-4462, email matt.everett@cancer.org; call Cecilia Ray at 364-7673, or email crs.1990@yahoo.com; call Buehler at 364-4679 or 364-6001; or visit www.RelayForLife.org

All cancer survivors will receive a free Relay for Life T-shirt, it was reported.