Community joins together to help fight cancer

Bigfork has stepped up each year to raise money for the annual Relay For Life fundraising event, and year was no exception.

Community members and businesses showed their support by walking in the 2011 Relay For Life, which was held the night of July 15 through the morning of July 16, from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. By earning a total of $25,035, Bigfork is on the right track to, as this year’s slogan says, “win the game of life and help us kick cancer!”

For the first time, Relay for Life was led by a grand marshal. This year, cancer survivor and dedicated Relay For Life participant, Pat McBride, served as the first-ever grand marshal.

McBride, who has been participating in Relay for Life since its inception in the Flathead Valley, is currently in the middle of her third battle with cancer. For the last five years, she served as a survivor co-chair for the Bigfork Relay For Life, in addition to volunteering at the Save a Sister Organization and the Bass Breast Center.

“With the help of Relay, hopefully we’ll find a cure for this horrible disease,” McBride said. “I hope it carries on into future.”

Other cancer survivors who have dedicated time and effort to support the fight against cancer also had their own unique stories to tell.

Survivor Zena Pirone, now a second year attendee at the Bigfork Relay For Life, is no stranger to fighting for her life. Pirone has battled and defeated cancer twice, and also incurred a gunshot wound to the head that left her fighting for her life.

“(My children) gave me strength to fight,” Pirone said. “I had babies to go home to, so I fought really hard. I realize life is precious and I’m eternally grateful for everything.”

Though this year’s Relay For Life was a huge success, attendance still fell short of what it has been in previous years.

“People are unfortunately losing interest, and we keep trying to find ways to keep the excitement,” said committee member Bev Garcelon. “I still think we do pretty good for a small town. We raise a lot of money.”

Garcelon has also been in charge of the luminarias for the past five years.

“I love when the lights go out and you see ‘hope’ on the bleachers and candles around the track,” Garcelon said. “Every candle represents a person.”

In addition to traditional events like the luminaria ceremony, this year was full of new activities such as musical chairs, dance lessons, an ice cream social, and a variety of different games.

Bev Garcelon was the top individual fundraiser this year, raising $6,000, while Betty Null came in second with a total of $1,226.

April’s Red Hot Chili Peppers garnered the most as a team with $6,597. God’s Walkie Talkies was a close second with $6,319. However, many teams still have fundraising events planned since the fundraising deadline isn’t until the end of August.

The money raised from this and other Relay For Life events around the world provide 40 to 50 percent of the cancer research budget for the American Cancer Society.