The 13th annual Relay for Life walk to raise money to fight
cancer, held Friday and Saturday at Callahan Park, had another
fruitful turnout, said one event official.

“It was a tremendous success,” said Fran Stewart, income
development specialist for the American Cancer Society, which
sponsors the event.

All told, 26 teams totaling around 400 participants navigated
the pathways of Callahan Park and participated in other activities
to remember loved ones who have been affected by the disease.
Stewart estimated that five new teams were represented this
year.

“Our goal was ,97,300 and we ended up with a little over
,105,000 raised,” she said. Temple-Inland was the top fundraising
team, bringing in more than ,13,000.

In addition to all the financial success, it seems the new
features added to the 2007 edition went over well with
participants.

The top attraction was the option for family and friends to scan
a photo of a loved one and write a short memorial message. A
collection of the pictures and messages was shown as a slideshow on
a big screen inside one of the park’s baseball fields, complete
with music.

“We had a lot of requests to have those CDs (of the slideshow
presentation),” Stewart said.

“A couple of survivors came up after the show and asked if there
was a CD available. We had a couple copies available. Then more
people came up and wanted copies so we said ‘yeah, we could do
that.'”

Now, with the word out, the popularity of the slideshow is
expected to skyrocket.

“We’ll probably have double the pictures and double the
participants in that event because people just loved it,” Stewart
said.

Just as welcome, she added, was this year’s idea to let those
who have trouble walking to instead rock in a rocking chair for
their squad.

“We had a lot of folks who brought their rocking chairs,” she
said, adding that some rockers even decorated their chairs.

“They thought it was great that they could do that instead of
walking.”

While it’s a bit early to think about next year, Stewart had an
idea of what other activities worked at the 2007 Relay and,
therefore, will stick around.

“The food court was a big success,” she said. “I know that there
were pies and cookies and there was nothing left (afterwards). All
the teams told us that (the food court) did a wonderful job with
that so that will probably continue.”

She also figured the Relay for Life will “probably continue the
“kiddie carnival” since the kids like that.”

“There are always things that we will add,” Stewart said, adding
that event planners will likely meet in July to wrap things up and
possibly talk about next year’s festivities.

Regardless of what is or is not added, the Relay for Life seems
to grow in support with each year.

“It’s a huge community event and we’re trying to get the word
out to people,” Stewart said. “You don’t have to have cancer to
come to this event; anybody can come.”