Cancer survivors, along with friends and family, will come together this week to raise money for the American Cancer Society by participating in the 18th annual Relay For Life of Oconto County.
Teams of people will camp out, compete in contests and walk laps around the Memorial Field track in Oconto Falls from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday.
“Anything to find a cure,” said Rosemary Konitzer, formerly of Oconto Falls, who lost her husband, Wayne, to melanoma in 2011. This will be her third year in the Relay For Life.
“It’s hard to explain what it’s like to be part of it,” she said. “It just makes you feel good.”
Last year’s relay raised $32,224.
The event opens at 6 p.m. with a ceremony that includes the Survivor Victory Lap, where relay participants line the track to cheer on the survivors. Konitzer said it is heartwarming for members of her team to honor the survivors, which this year will include other family members.
Caregivers will join the survivors in the Caregiver Lap, the second lap of the night. The walking then continues through the night.
Konitzer’s team consists of seven people, including her two daughters. They will take turns walking laps around the track throughout the event.
Some laps have special themes, such as the Hula Hoop Lap, Dog Sled Lap, Swim Lap, Poker Lap and Redneck Sports Lap. These help keep the walkers engaged and entertained during the night.
Other contests, such as Dude Looks Like a Lady and Musical Lawn Chairs, also help break up the monotony. A popular contest is the frozen T-shirt contest. For $5, participants can buy a T-shirt frozen into a square; the first person to thaw it and put it on is the winner.
Although the night provides camaraderie and fun, the Luminaria Ceremony at 9 p.m. brings the seriousness of the deadly disease to the forefront. Luminary bags, available for $10 each, are placed around the track. Messages are read aloud to loved ones who have lost their battle with cancer.
“It’s very powerful,” Konitzer said. “I just can’t explain what the feeling is like to be there.”
For Konitzer, it means recalling her husband’s cancer experience. He was cancer-free for a year, but then the disease came back in a very aggressive form.
“It was inoperable,” she said.
They went home and learned to take each day as it came.
“You can’t worry about what might happen tomorrow,” she said.
Gail Yatso, of Oconto Falls, has helped coordinate the Relay For Life for the past three years and helped organize the silent auction, which is open to the public, as a fundraiser.
“It’s such a great cause,” Yatso said.
The event also includes entertainment by DJ Dennis Piepkorn, a concession stand selling hot dogs, brats and chili, and a birthday cake provided by the American Cancer Society to represent “more birthdays, more lives being saved.”
Teams can join right up to the start of the event. Occasionally people will just stop by during the night and walk quietly for a length of time and then leave. Anyone is welcome.
The participants camp out at Memorial Field, setting up tents and campers as their headquarters. Each year has a different theme, and campers decorate their campsites accordingly. This year’s theme is Sports of All Sorts. Campsites are judged before nightfall, and winning participants receive certificates.
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