Roanoke Relay for Life co-chair Dana Reagan says the local American Cancer Society chapter has already netted more than the $360,000 it had set as a goal. “I think we’re going to hit $400,000,” Reagan said last week, when the total was at $372,000. Her husband Barry is the co-chair.
She puts her heart and soul into the Relay for Life every year. “It’s like a second full time job,” said Reagan, also a member of the Relay steering committee and an employee at Elizabeth Arden. Reagan is a member of the Parrott Heads of the Blue Ridge (she’s “seen Jimmy Buffett close to 30 times”) and a team the group put together for a Relay event in 2005 piqued her interest.
“We just got involved because we thought it was a worthy cause,” said Reagan; her immediate family, nor her husband’s has been touched by cancer. “[But] it can strike at any time,” she adds, “You never know when it’s going to hit home.”
After a three year hiatus from Roanoke City (at Green Hill Park in West Roanoke County) and two years in the Roanoke Civic Center parking lot, Relay for Life returned to the Reserve Avenue field where Victory Stadium once stood for the first time since 2004. “I did not hear one single complaint,” said Reagan, “everyone seemed very excited about being back in the city.” This was the 19th Relay in Roanoke, the first place it was staged in Virginia.
Even without Victory Stadium, those who had walked there previously told Reagan “it felt like home. People could not have been more responsive in a positive way about coming back to [Roanoke].” Reagan praised Roanoke City Parks & Recreation for their help in making the field and makeshift track ready for the walkers.
Even a heavy rain in the middle of the night that turned the track to mud didn’t seem to dampen spirits too much. “I was very concerned that the people that were there would just pack up and leave… but that didn’t happen,” said Reagan. Others scheduled to show up on the morning of June 5th, “kept rolling in.” At night luminaries – special bags that held candles – were placed around the track and were lit to honor those that had battled cancer.
The new Carilion parking garage on Reserve Avenue was also put to good use by walkers, many of whom stayed all night. “Everything went so much better than we thought it would,” noted Reagan. Vinton and Salem hold their own Relay for Life events every year.
On June 4-5 at Reserve Ave. over 2500 people – and almost 200 teams – walked laps around a track all through the night, backed by sponsors and pledges that helped raise funds for cancer research. “That was up a lot from last year,” said Reagan of the numbers. As always, a “survivors lap” kicked things off on June 4th.
The Roanoke chapter of the American Cancer Society will collect Relay for Life pledges through the end of August, following the second “Bark for Life” event on Aug. 21, where dog owners can walk with their pooches at the old Six Wags park in Salem to raise additional funds. (See Barkforlife.org). There are also games for the dogs at Bark for Life (6-8pm, August 21), which was held for the first time locally in 2009.
See roanokerelay.org for more on the local Relay for Life chapter.
By Gene Marrano [email protected]