Relay for Life reaches goal

(By Sandi Brown) Rita Shawver, Karla Myers, Calvin Myers, and Joan George enjoy the sunshine at the annual Relay for Life.

The Relay took place from 4 p.m. Friday to 4 p.m. on Saturday and involved many different activities and artists. Teams of people from all over the county participated in this walk by taking turns walking or running laps. Nineteen teams participated in the Relay this year, which surpasses the 11 teams from last year.

The opening ceremonies on Friday included guest speaker Tom Jones, Mayor of Linton. Events continued through the evening including a Steel Drum Band, Blue Grass Band, and DJ Entertainment. The Luminaria Ceremony was held around dusk on Friday. Candles were placed all along the walking path to honor those who have gone through a fight with cancer. As the names were announced, candles were lit in an emotional ceremony.

By Sandi Brown SURVIVORS: Sue Eccles, Shirley Hudson, and Rex Hudson all are cancer survivors.

Saturday's activities began with "The Bullet" 106.5 and continued with Colts Cheerleader Tessa Davis, Indiana Recording Artist Scott Greason, and Tim Latimer and Friends. In addition, the survivors had a special luncheon and took part in a Survivor Ceremony. Both young and old took turns with the microphone declaring the amount of time they have been cancer free.

The stories of those involved are alike in that they have endured the same battle; however, each person's story is a moving recollection of the difficult road the journey with cancer has been in their lives.

Bloomfield residents Rex and Shirley Hudson both participated in the walk because of their own personal battles with cancer. Shirley's battle was not unexpected, as her mother and sister both fought the same illness. Rex recalled his father's fight with cancer, which eventually took his father's life at the age of 77, which is the same age Rex is now. Rex's own battle has involved skin cancer and nine weeks of radiation for prostate cancer, which he recently finished. He recalled the 15 years he spent coaching basketball at Bloomfield with Guy Glover. The positive attitude Glover kept through his battle with cancer was a true inspiration to Rex.

Sue Eccles, of Bloomfield, first had cancer in 1970, when she had three children under the age of 10. She then had a second round of cancer in 2002.

"I can take it every 30 years," she said smiling, "but I just wish they'd find a cure."

Karla Myers is just 28 years of age now and was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma three years ago in 2005.

"I went through 16 weeks of chemotherapy and one month of radiation and they declared me cured after that," she stated.

She says she was a wreck through the whole process, but family members were quick to say otherwise. "Karla may have been a wreck, but she didn't portray that to us," said her aunt Joan George and her mother Rita Shawver. "She kept a positive attitude for us and she was the one going through it. She would not let us get discouraged."

Karla also added, "They told me I'd only have a 70% chance of having kids, but my son was conceived three months after my radiation was completed."

Her son, Calvin, is now 15 months old and Karla has been cancer-free for the past two and a half years. She has participated in the Relay for the past two years.

Event Chairperson, Nicole Cox, along with the entire committee, have put a lot time and effort into making this year's Relay a larger and more successful event than it ever has been. Nicole stated, "The Relay has been a great success with wonderful community support."

In Closing Ceremonies, she spoke of how the Relay helps us to celebrate the lives of those who we have lost to cancer, as well as remembering our survivors and the journey they have taken. Nicole added, "This then motivates us to do something to make sure that no one else we care about has to face this disease."

Nicole also expressed her gratitude to everyone involved that helped to make this event a huge success. "I would like to give a big thank you to the Bloomfield Town Board for allowing us to move this event here so that we can add more vendors and do more than we have ever done before." She went on to say, "I have the best committee I could ask for. Thank you for standing by me."

The goal of the entire Relay was to raise $35,000 for the American Cancer Society. At the conclusion of the event, Nicole was beaming with joy as she announced that $35,882.69 was raised this year.