I don’t even know where to begin. As I sit down to write this column, I’m still overwhelmed by all the support that our newspaper’s Relay for Life team, “the Newsies,” received over this past weekend and leading up to the event. I’m also impressed with the support that the American Cancer Society received from the generous people of the Molalla area.
So far — and the fundraising isn’t finished — this year’s Molalla Relay for Life event raised more than $61,000 to help the Society support finding a cure for cancer. Our little team alone raised about $700.
Knowing all of this is quite inspiring, but attending the event: staying up much of that cold night, walking those miles, getting sunburned (that was my fault alone), sleeping on the ground, talking to people whose lives and loved ones have been affected by cancer, and witnessing some amazing — and tear-jerking — ceremonies, really was an inspiration to me and, I’m sure, many of the others who attended the 22-hour event.
I just don’t know what else to say besides thanking everyone who made our fundraising and our event attendance a success. So here I go — but please forgive me if I fail to mention someone; you all know what you have done and so do we.
Our team’s heartfelt thanks goes to: the American Cancer Society; the organizers of the Molalla event including Sue Heublein and Roxie Smith; Total Rentals for generously lending us a canopy tent to give us shade; Fred Beck who lent us a sleeping tent so we could get some rest now and then; Darryl Howe, owner of CompUSmart in Molalla, who lent a hand with our gear; Patsy and Ron Lusted who lent us some comfortable camping gear; my friend, mountaineer Keith Westrum who let us borrow some of his cold-weather clothing and gear that kept us quite comfortable; friend and teammate Kent Reynolds for doing miles of running and keeping us entertained back at the campsite; teammate and Molalla Pioneer columnist and copy editor Vera Erickson who walked the track and shared stories of how cancer affected her life and the lives of her loved ones (we love you Vera); teammate and nurseryman Jim Gilbert, the Democratic candidate for District 18 of the Oregon House, who walked laps and provided us with some good company as well as a generous donation; teammate Marcus Storey who helped us set up our camp, lent us camping gear, spent time on the track and helped us take down the camp at the end (I would have pulled many more muscles had it not been for Marcus — he was a lifesaver); my girlfriend and teammate Becky Bergman who walked many laps, prepared most of the provisions for the night, hauled a ton of equipment to and from our campsite and generally looked after everyone’s well-being and kept me from going insane during the course of the event; teammate Brent Jutras who walked countless laps, kept our spirits up with his personality and charitably donated most of his weekend to help us out when he could have been doing a lot of other things; teammate, comedienne, and Molalla Pioneer sports editor Aileen McAteer who put in some laps when she wasn’t keeping us cracking up with her impersonations and other humorous and quick-witted conversation; teammate and Molalla Pioneer news reporter Bethany Monroe who was our rock — she, by far, spent the most time on the track, stayed awake the longest, lent us a lantern to light up our campsite, and should get the award for being the most energetic and enthusiastic member of our team (way to go Bethany!); a nice guy who tried to help us with a propane lantern at the event (we never got his name, but we’ll remember him for his kindness to some strangers); and finally all the people and companies who helped us exceed our fundraising goal that went toward helping the American Cancer Society save our loved ones and friends — the real reason we all showed up.
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