Relay for Life slated for Saturday

STAFF REPORT

Portales residents will be continuing the battle against cancer by raising money for research at the annual Relay for Life event on Saturday.

The event will run from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. at City Park and, according to Relay for Life Co-Chair Julie Miller, is wholly driven by participation from the community.

“The main participation, and what raises money, is we have teams that sign up to have a booth, if you will, and they raise the money by doing whatever project they want,” Miller said. “They may have a fishing pond for the kids, they may have face painting. We have food vendors that are going to be there.”

This year, according to Miller, there will be several special events happening during the relay, including a photography show, a “Little Miss Relay” pageant, a survivor’s garden party brunch and a “mushball tournament.”

“Mushball,” she said, “is like softball, except that they use a bigger ball that is more mushy, so that it doesn’t go so far. Our mushball tournament is going to be right there at City Park, in the baseball field. The tournament will actually start at 7 a.m. and will last until we get finished.”

“Little Miss Relay” will challenge girls up to sixth grade to raise money.

“It’s kind of like the little miss merry christmas pageant,” said Miller. “Whoever raises the most money gets to be the queen, and we will have prizes for the girls that participate.”

One of the staples of Relay for Life is the luminaria celebration, which allows people to light luminarias they have purchased “in memory of someone who has passed or in honor of someone who has survived cancer,” said Miller. “It’s a really special ceremony that we have at the end and that closes our relay.”

A large part of why the relay happens every year, according to Miller, is the “camaraderie between all the teams and the willingness of the community and people to support what we need to raise some money. It’s just the community coming together for one cause, and that’s to find a cure for cancer.”

Interested parties can create a team or join an existing one at http://www.relayforlife.org/portalesnm, said Miller, but being on a team is not a requirement for attendance.

“We welcome community members to come out and participate in the fundraising that the various teams are doing and have fun,” she said.

Registration for the Relay for Life is available on the website, as well as registration for the mushball tournament and the Little Miss Relay pageant.

RSVPs for the survivor’s garden party brunch can be made with Miller at 575-760 0526. Luminarias are $5 each and can be purchased online or at US Bank in Portales.