Midland resident Cheryl Shattuck took part in her 19th Relay for Life at the Midland County Fairgrounds on Saturday, which happened to be the 20th anniversary of her own cancer diagnosis.
“I had breast cancer, stage four. And it happened on our 25th wedding anniversary, today’s our 45th,” Shattuck said. “And I had a father and a brother pass away from cancer, so I’m relaying for all of them.”
The fairgrounds drew a crowd for the annual Relay fundraiser, with a theme of “A Knight for Hope” – a play on the growing popularity of the Renaissance Festival.
Teams gathered in honor of themselves or their loved ones, both survivors and in memoriam, to raise funds for the American Cancer Society and research on all kinds of cancer.
The event featured the traditional walk around the track, a craft show, activities for kids and a silent auction.
This was the second year the event held a craft show, run by Diane Cauchy and her mother. All vendor registration fees were donated to the American Cancer Society, with Cauchy’s personal booth donating all of its proceeds as well.
“I’ve lost too many people to the disease, and we just need to do something to fix it,” Cauchy said. “This is just my way to fight back.”
One group attended in memoriam of their friend named Jamie, who died three weeks ago.
“We really hoped Jamie would have been here, but God had other plans for her,” Jamie’s friend Kelly Garety said. “The initial team name was Jamie Wins, and now it’s Jamie’s Wings.”
Even though Relay for Life is now over, the fundraising won’t stop. Many teams and organizers will be right back at it next week through planning and other events. For many, this is a year-long effort.
As Midland County Relay marketing coordinator Jessie Foley-Action described it, there’s always some kind of fundraiser going on.
“We’ve actually been fundraising probably since the last one ended, which was last September,” Foley-Acton said. “One year, we sent a toilet to somebody’s yard (to raise funds). We’ve done a couple of car shows. You never know what people are going to come up with.”
