Mac Co. Relay For Life: A survivors' walk to live for

Robert Obenshain looks forward to the McDonald County Relay For Life all year. “It’s a pretty good support group,” Obenshain said.

The McDonald County Relay For Life began at 8 a.m. Saturday and lasted until midnight at the McDonald County High School track.

The day means a lot to people like Obenshain, a cancer survivor. He found out he had cancer in 1999, but has been coming to the event since before his diagnosis. He feels like he knows just about everybody who comes and keeps in contact with them beyond the day of the event.

“It’s kind of like a family,” Obenshain said, “There’s always new faces.”

Relay For Life’s purpose is to raise money to find a cure for cancer. 

Todd Stone, McDonald County Relay For Life chairman, said the event has been going on for about 10 years. Around a month after a Relay For Life is over, preparation begins for the next one.

“It takes a whole year to get it planned out and scheduled to really go good,” Stone said.

For Stone, the best part of the day is the survivors’ walk, which was at 6 p.m.

“That survivors’ walk is what I live for,” he said. “There’s some of them last year that didn’t know if they would make it. This year, they’re walking.”

The day included music, concessions and miles upon miles of walking. The main event of the night was a demonstration by the Power Team and a 9 p.m. luminary ceremony.

It also got hot, which isn’t usually an issue with Relay For Life.

In past years, McDonald County did not even start their Relay For Life until 6 p.m. and it lasted until 6 a.m.

“[That] would work good for the first five or six hours, but after that, everyone’s gone and there’s not really much going on from (1 a.m.) on,” Stone said.

The final amount of money raised this year won’t be totaled until August. Halfway through Saturday, $30,000 had already been raised. Most of this came from sponsors who donated before Saturday’s event began.

This year’s total is higher than last year’s final amount, which he said was near $25,000. At the end of the night, Stone anticipated that at least $35,000-40,000 had been raised.

“Times are tough,” he said. “There’s still a lot of people out here giving.”

The event had plenty of regulars and newcomers. Some walked for family and friends who died from cancer or are currently going through cancer treatment.

Shari Kline was one of the more experienced “walkers” at the event. At last year’s event, she walked almost 30 miles.  

“My uncle, last week, was just diagnosed with cancer, so I’m walking in his honor,” Kline said.
Educators for Life, a group of more than 60 teachers from area schools, attended Relay For Life for the first time and had seven cancer survivors on their team. As of press time, they had raised almost $5,000 from fundraisers at all schools in the McDonald County R-1 School District.

“Being combined like this, we get a chance to actually work together outside of school, too,” said Mandy Barrett, first grade teacher at Noel Elementary School. “The camaraderie has been built up even for the school district.”

The Girl Scouts were also in attendance. The scouts were hoping to earn their silver awards, which is the highest Girl Scout cadet honor.

“We’re here as a benefit for the Relay For Life earning that award, and we’re here 14 hours,” said Anner Johnson, co-leader for the Girl Scouts.