Cortland relay kicks off Friday
By DARCIE LORENO Tribune Chronicle
POSTED: June 7, 2008
CORTLAND — Champion high school junior Jared Nolan was there with his robotics team. Fifteen-year cancer survivor Kathy Miller of Cortland was ‘‘cooking up a cure’’ with friends and fellow church members. And Donna Miller of Johnston was there, too, to support her friend, Kathy.
Despite record-breaking temperatures Friday, the area near Lakeview High School’s football field was packed with participants from around the county sipping cold lemonade, selling food and walking laps for the same cause during Cortland’s Relay For Life.
With the sun beating down on the black track, Nolan, recruited to walk during all 24 hours of the event, was still going strong two hours in.
‘‘I work at McDonald’s in front of the grill three days a week and that’s hot,’’ Nolan said. ‘‘So I think I can handle this.’’
More than 50 teams registered for this weekend’s relay and close to 500 luminaries had already been sold as of Thursday afternoon, said Pam Marshall, a relay organizer. The goal this year was $122,000.
The track was packed with survivors during the opening lap, said Marshall, and participants found some creative ways to stay cool while they completed their missions.
Kathy Miller and Donna Miller were busy under their Cooking Up a Cure team’s tent with Loretta McHenry, where they sold lemonade and walking tacos. Kathy Miller wore three strings of beads, each of which stood for five years of surviving cancer. The event started at 6 p.m., and by 7:30 p.m., the group had sold close to 100 of the cold treats.
‘‘We’ve sold a lot ’em,’’ said Donna Miller.
Today’s activities will include a dunking booth and the continuation of an event garage sale before the walk wraps up at 6 p.m. Murray said Friday she was impressed by the teams’ creativity, which included balloon-throwing contests, raffles and no short supply of Sno-cones.
‘‘We love it like this,’’ Murray said of the heat. ‘‘They’re doing an amazing job. We had so many survivors.’’
dloreno@tribtoday.com
