06/21/07 — Anne Walker calls herself “a cancer ‘survivor’ of a different sort.”
To be more exact, she has never been a cancer patient. But she has lost her husband, her parents, a sister-in-law and four grandparents to the disease.
One way the Cambridge Springs resident honors their memory is to take part in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. So, this weekend, 57-year-old Walker will be volunteering at the annual day-and-night fundraiser at the Pioneer Steam and Gas Engine Society Showgrounds near Saegertown.
Relay for Life involves teams raising funds for the American Cancer Society by having at least one team member walking at all times during the 24-hour event that begins Saturday afternoon.
A big part of the event is a ceremony in which a huge array of ground-level luminaries and some other lights are lit in honor of those who have survived cancer, as well as those who have died from the disease. During the lighting, their names are read aloud.
For its chairperson Walker, its an event which still brings tears to her eyes after four years of leading it. Luminaries line the area where team members walk and, as day turns to night on Saturday, about 9 or 9:30 p.m., the luminaries will begin to sparkle.
“It reduces you to tears. It’s dark and there’s always something magical about dark, and candles burning, which puts you in a mood to be somber,” Walker said. There’s also soft music playing in the background, a speaker and then the names of people who have died or survived cancer are read — the same names which are on the luminaries.
She said there are several hundred names, possibly a thousand. As they are called out, stories and other information about the person can be shared. “Every name has a story,” Walker said.
“This is a very safe, comforting way to bring the memories back up again,” she said, explaining, “there’s a flood of emotions, but there is a lot of love. All around you are people who are right there with you — either cancer survivors or those who have lost someone to cancer. You are surrounded by people also feeling the same kinds of emotion. It’s good for you once a year to take a minute out and honor someone you love.”
The luminaries remain lit throughout the night, a longlasting reminder of the people they honor.
Walker got involved in this special way after attending her first Relay for Life several years ago. That year, she was remembering her husband William (Bill) Walker, who was diagnosed with bile duct cancer on Feb. 14, 2000, and died just two months later.
Because his cancer progressed so quickly, Anne said, “I didn’t have time to think about the Cancer Society.” She was raising children, working and traveling daily to Pittsburgh to the hospital where he was being treated.
So, after her first year as a Relay spectator, she was so impressed she decided to get involved. Chairing the luminary ceremony was a perfect fit for her. “I think it is the most touching and emotional part of Relay for Life,” she said. “All of it (the Relay for Life) is wonderful and great; it’s a wonderful fundraiser, but the luminary ceremony is very particular, very emotional, very touching — and I just care about it.”
Walker quickly adds that although the luminary ceremony is somber, there is plenty of fun and laughter during the rest of the 24-hour Relay. Throughout the 24 hours, she said, there is lots of food, fun, games, bands and entertainment — along with contests for all the team members.
To buy a luminary
Anyone wishing to order a luminary, Tiki torch or eternal flame may do so in advance by calling the ACS office at 337-8301.
The luminary bags can be purchased for any donation. They can be decorated before they are placed on the field. The Tiki torches are $30 and can be picked up Sunday morning and taken home after the Relay. The eternal flames, candle-holding vases, also can be picked up and taken home and put in a flower garden, Walker said.
There are a limited number of the eternal flames and Tiki torches. If there are any left over, they can be purchased at the event.
Relay for Life donations support cancer research and provide services to those whose lives are touched daily by the disease.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Woman helps to remember cancer survivors
- Local News
-
-
Conneaut Lake Park roars into 120th season
Conneaut Lake Park’s 120th season is officially under way with its in-keeping-with-tradition, four-day Memorial Day weekend opening, and the “crowds are coming in,” Jack Moyers said Saturday.
-
Area communities ready to celebrate Memorial Day
Editor’s note: The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are Monday, except those in Edinboro and Shermansville, which are planned for Sunday. -
Remembering Civil War Bucktails
A glimpse into daily life of the Civil War era is easy to see in Crawford County.
-
Area Memorial Day events
The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are on Monday, except the one at Edinboro that is planned for Sunday.
-
Civil War soldiers highlight Meadville Memorial Day events
A courageous Meadville man — wounded three times but remaining on a Civil War battlefield until he was too weak to continue — is being remembered this Memorial Day as the Meadville Area Memorial Day Committee continues its mission of observing the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States.
-
Police: Locals admit to killing Ohio woman
Two Cochranton women were arrested and jailed on homicide charges early Thursday after allegedly admitting they killed an Ohio woman and buried her body in a shallow grave near their residence recently.
-
Reader 'Faces' are coming in
Mom's car dash, Meadville, PA
Lucy Kedzierski, 12, looks at the face every morning waiting for school bus!
She took this with a cell phone. -
North Street Project sure to be 'very disruptive'
With the preliminary traffic control plan for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s North Street Project complete, Meadville City Manager Joe Chriest summed up the anticipated impact of the project, which is expected to span the entire 2013 construction season. “This is going to be very, very disruptive,” he said Wednesday.
-
Boat business booming in warm weather
It’s been a booming business in boats this spring, according to some area boat dealers.
-
City leaders not concerned after financial downgrade
During the past five years, Moody’s Investors Service has assigned three different ratings — all within the range of “upper medium grade” to the City of Meadville’s bonds. In 2007, the city was given a rating of A3, the lowest of the trio. In 2010, the city’s bond rating was raised to A1, the highest ranking in the “upper medium” category. Monday, Moody’s gave the city’s $10,000,000 General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2012, which went on the market Monday, the middle rating of A2.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
