When area cancer survivors settle down to their meal Friday afternoon at Owensville High School, they will be surrounded by artwork created by local elementary school students depicting the theme “hope.”

CANCER SURVIVOR Linda Brown of Owensville (in purple) hands out poster contest awards with Owensville Area Relay for Life committee member Cheryl Schlottach during their visit to Owensville Elementary School in May. OES students created posters on the theme of “Hope” for this year’s Relay for Life event on Friday and Saturday. Students (from left) are Ella Wright, Ali Ryals, and Ty Misner.

For the survivors, hope is what propelled them to get up every day during their treatments and make their next doctor’s appointment. Hope is what drove family members to commit all available resources to help their loved one battle for a clean bill of health or the chance of knocking their illness into remission.

That theme of hope will be evident overnight Friday into Saturday morning as the fourth Owensville Area Relay for Life campaign takes to Dutchmen Field for an evening of food, entertainment, remembrances of those who have not survived their bouts with cancer, and a celebration for those who have survived, or are currently battling cancer. Funds raised go to the American Cancer Society. Admission to the event is free.

Linda Brown, who chaired the committee to promote the theme “Paint the Town Purple,” is a cancer survivor herself and said the Relay for Life event helps promote  early detection methods along with providing information on treatments.

“It gets information out to the public that they have resources available to them and gets out information about treatment options,” said Brown who was successfully treated for a malignant melanoma (skin cancer) discovered on her lower leg. “It also gives people more hope to find more cures and promotes early detection.”

With early detection, Brown said she was fortunate that her cancer did not spread. She also credited her physician, Dr. Joyce Reed, with taking the initiative to test the suspicious-looking spot.

Brown and fellow Relay for Life organizers Barb Feagan and Cheryl Schlottach were at Owensville Elementary School on the closing day of school to hand out awards for poster contest winners. Brown said winning and placing entries will decorate the tunnel entrance to Dutchmen Field for the June 27-28 event. The rest of the entries will  decorate the commons area for the survivor’s dinner scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in the high school commons area.

The event will also carry and Olympic theme in advance of this summer’s games in China. Relay for Life activities across the nation carry the theme “Go for the Gold, Find a Cure.” Locally, the goal is to raise $65,000. That goal is set annual by the American Cancer Society. As of Friday, the local Relay campaign had already raised around $36,000. “That’s really good,” said Feagan, considering, “we’re down on teams.”

The need for cancer research funding, however, is more and more evident, she noted. Since last year’s relay, Feagan said she personally knows at least 10 people from the area who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Carol’s Catering is serving the meal for cancer survivors who eat free. Each is allowed to bring a care-giver, Cost is $7 for the  care-giver’s meal. Letters have been sent out to prior participants of the dinner. If you are a cancer survivor and have not been contacted, and would like to attend, you are asked to call Janet Diestelkamp at 437-2750. A king and queen of the survivors will be selected during the dinner and they will lead the first lap of the relay event.

An opening ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the track at Dutchmen Field. A survivor’s walk is scheduled immediately following the opening ceremony. Cancer survivors and their care-givers will open the relay by walking the first lap together.

A variety of games and activities are scheduled throughout the evening and overnight. Some of them include dodge ball, kick ball, karaoke, martial arts demonstrations, trash can band, yoga. A variety of age-appropriate games are planned including duck pond, fishing pond, bouncing house, face painting, bean bag toss, sucker pull, snack walk, and Plinko.

At 9:30 p.m. a luminaria ceremony of remembrance is scheduled. Luminarias are for sale for a $5 donation at the event and may be decorated in memory of a loved one lost or a cancer survivor.

A 6 a.m. closing ceremony concludes the event with a reveal on the total money raised and presentation of team awards. This is a non-alcohol and smoke and tobacco-free event. No pets are allowed except those specifically designated as service animals for the blind or disabled.