truly dedicated...

and soaked

Dedicated is probably the best word to describe the participants in this year’s Lorain Relay For Life, as they were drenched while walking the track Friday night.

Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo, Chairman of the Lorain Relay, said he was asked two years ago by his good friend Tammy Frizzell, who is with the Cancer Society and is in charge of the North Ohio Region and his wife to start up a Relay For Life in Lorain. Kalo said that before committing to it he wanted to first make sure that he would have the necessary time. “I don’t like to make commitments unless I can spend time with them. I have given up some Board seats since I was elected because I wanted to do a good job. Last year we had only 4 months preparation and we did it the first of May and it was miserable, it was 35 degrees and it poured from the time we got here at noon on Friday until we left here noon on Saturday. So we moved it up this year and I have a new co-chair Mary Ann Campana, who has been absolutely wonderful, without her this wouldn’t have happened. She has put a ton of work and love into this and she will be taking over as Chairperson next year.”

Kalo said that in just a year they have grown a lot, this year having 9 teams and serving 100 Survivor Dinners on Friday night. Kalo said they learned that the sponsor for the Survivor dinner backed out only a month ago, but that Texas Roadhouse stepped up and at no charge provided all of the meals. “It’s that kind of support from our community that makes events like this work and without them I don’t know what we would do. Community Health Partners is one of our major sponsors as they are for all of the Relay For Life events throughout the county. Lorain National Bank, The Morning Journal, Giant Eagle, David Campana Insurance, First Federal and so many others stepped up to help us out.”

Even the Bascule Bridge was lit in Purple in honor of the event.

Kalo said that although he took time to decide two years ago that he was going to Chair this event, he knew from the start that he had to do it. You see with Kalo, it’s personal. His mother suffered from Stage Five Breast Cancer and his daughter had Salivary Gland Cancer that was removed last December. “It’s very personal with me, that is why I had to think about it at first because I know it’s a very large commitment. This is the dollars that is used for research, so I wanted to make sure I was able to put the time into it. Our goal last year was to raise $20,000.00 and we raised $22,000.00. This year they raised our goal to $25,000.00 and I am hoping we are about at that amount right now, on Monday it was bank night and we had $18,400.00, this is when everybody brings their dollars in prior to the event.”

Kalo said The Relay For Life started when Washington Doctor decided to start walking and running for cancer, to raise awareness. “He said he was going to walk and run for 24 hours because Cancer is 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

As you can see by the photos, participants did not have the greatest weather Friday night. I’m working on getting them Email addresses for NewsChannel 5 Meteorologist Jason Nicholas, Dick Goddard and Channel 3 Meteorologist AJ Colby. The downpour sparked some creativity in some of the walkers as they turned the soaked yard into a Slip N Slide, nobody show this to any Port Authority people.

All the participants will be warmed up Saturday morning when the Boy Scouts prepare a pancake breakfast for them before they all head home for a long hot shower and a day or two of sleeping.

To see all photos: CLICK HERE