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Community Corner

Local Supporters Walk In West County Relay For Life

The West County Relay For Life took place on Queeny Park with more than 300 participants, including some from Ballwin and Ellisville. The event lasted from 6 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday.

From 6 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday, cancer survivors and their friends and family were scheduled to participated in the West County Relay For Life held in . The event is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, which seeks to raise funds for cancer research.

Overnight storms cut the event short with it ending around 3 a.m., but the wet weather did not dampen the spirits of those committed to the fight against cancer.

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Though the exact numbers are not yet known, Rhonda Travers, co-chair of the event, said at least more than 350 people from O'Fallon to Manchester and other St. Louis County areas registered for the event.

Travers said Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society's biggest fundraising event of the year, with about 23 total Relays taking place in the St. Louis area in different communities. Last year, the event was held in , but it was moved this year to Queeny Park due to some renovation of the school's football field.

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From a costume contest among male participants to a zumba dance class, attendees participated in different events all night long, despite humidity and overnight storms.

The duration of the event is meant to represent the stages of a survivor's journey with cancer, Travers said.

"They get diagnosed, and then the sun kind of goes down," Travers said. "Then you got those hard hours of 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m. and that's representative of the chemo period and the hard times they have to go through. Then come 5 a.m. and sunrise and that signifies their hope; there is a brighter day ahead."

Travers said it will take about a week to know how much money the event raised. Last year, it was more than $100,000. Travers said she hopes the number to be around $150,000.

Dianne Katzman, a four-year survivor who gave one of the speeches at the opening ceremony, told Patch the event was not about cancer survivor, but about cancer warriors.

"A survivor is someone who has made it through the disease, but a warrior is someone who fights to end cancer, makes a difference and works with others together as a team," Katzman said.

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