The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The regional 2017 American Cancer Society's (ACS) Relay for Life will be held on Friday, June 23 at the track at Havre High School. This year's event, renamed the North Central Montana Relay for Life, will be the first under a new collaborative effort between Blaine and Hill counties. A number of reasons led to the combining of the Blaine and Hill County relays and organizers are hoping for a new synergy from the combined efforts. The ACS Relay for Life is the signature fund raising event staged by volunteers in 5200 communities and 20 countries around the world. This will be the seventh year for Blaine County's event.

Jalyn Keighley, the regional Community Manager of the American Cancer Society, is an ACS staffer who helped both local counties organize Relay events last year. She and her family are moving to Washington, DC, where her husband is in the Army and has been assigned to a new post. Keighley said she wasn't certain if her position would be filled but was confident that the local organizing committees could pull off this change. She added, "The closest two Relay events are in Cut Bank and Glasgow. This combined event will serve as the fundraiser for communities along the Hi-Line and south to Great Falls."

To coordinate the new combined efforts there are now three chairpersons heading the upcoming event. Colleen Mulonet has been active in the relay and is the chair for Blaine County. Kyndra Hall, from Havre, and Reba Domire, Rudyard, are the other chairs. Through a coin toss the first combined event will be held in Havre, rotating between Havre and Chinook in future years. The organizing committee also holds its monthly meetings alternating between the Chinook Eagles and Gram's Ice Cream Shop in Havre. Organizing committee meetings are open to the public and meet at 6pm. The next organizing meeting will be March 8 in Havre.

Recurring activities underway, new twists in the works

Sponsorships. Colleen Mulonet said there is an effort by the new combined leadership team to utilize the expertise of people, from both the Havre and Chinook-based events, who have served in leadership positions before. Art Kleinjan will continue to find sponsors for the event. Sponsors are individuals, businesses or groups that help underwrite some of the major costs of the event-especially the t-shirts that are so popular with participants. Kleinjan can be contacted at home in Chinook to learn more about sponsorships.

Teams organizing. Relay team members do the main fundraising for the event. Last year Blaine County had eight teams that helped raise around $14,000. Mulonet said there are currently four teams already organized in Blaine County. The teams are Oldies but Goodies (Chinook Senior Center), Herd of Turtles (Fort Belknap), The Bees Wear Pink (a reorganized Chinook community team from last year) and a new team made up of Chinook High students. Mulonet added, "Last year we had increased participation in the fundraising by CHS students. This year they've decided to form their own team and are already planning some fundraising events that will include challenges to Havre High students." She said several other teams were in the process of forming.

The organizing committee welcomes new teams and new team members. To join an existing team or start a new team, go to the ACS website: http://www.relayforlife.org. The website will help locate an area event (North Central Montana Relay) and has directions for connecting with an existing team or how to create a new team. Or, call 1-800-227-2345 and select option 2. That option will connect the caller with a staffer who can help answer questions about teams.

Luminaries. During the evening walk around the track, luminaries light the way for the walkers. Luminaries are paper sacks, lighted by candles inside them. Luminaries are created in memory, or honor, of loved ones who have dealt with cancer and often have a photo of the person being honored, the honoree's name and a message or quote. Relay organizers said there were about 200 luminaries along the walking track in Chinook last year.

Colleen Mulonet will be handling the luminary sales and placements. This year the luminaries are three for $25. During the month of May, luminaries will be available for $5. You can get information about the Luminary Ceremony and how to purchase luminaries by calling 357-3837.

Survivors' dinner and relay walk. The evening of the Relay for Life walk is really a celebration and the culmination of the work of the teams doing the fundraising. It's tradition to hold a Survivors' Dinner immediately prior to the start of the walk. The dinner celebrates the success of survivors of cancer and the survivors are guests at the meal. At the upcoming event in Havre the survivors' dinner will be an opportunity for other participants to buy a dinner.

The first lap of the walk is called the Survivors' Walk and the cancer survivors walk as a group. Then the other teams join in and the idea is to have people walking on the track until midnight. Many teams bring campers or set up tents where walkers can take a break between walking laps. It's a fun evening and music will be provided by local disk jockey Adam Murphy.

The Relay for Life is one of the United States' largest and most successful fundraisers. It's believed that one out of every 100 Americans participates in a Relay for Life activity each year. Blaine County has traditionally had better participation than the national average. Organizers of the first North Central Montana Relay for Life are hoping for an even more successful event as they combine efforts with others along the Hi-Line.