Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Various mushball team members huddle in a group with coffee to keep warm between games on Saturday during the Portales Relay for Life. Twelve of the 19 mushball teams still showed up for the event despite the wet, 35-degree weather.
PORTALES — Pouring rain and 35-degree weather was still not enough to keep those fighting for a cause home on Saturday.
Despite the miserable weather conditions, 12 of 19 registered mushball teams showed up to the Portales Relay for Life Saturday at the Portales Softball Complex, because, as coordinator Mark Clark posted on Facebook Saturday morning, "We will not quit. We will not let cancer win; we will finish the fight."
The annual event, which raises money for cancer treatment and research, began at 10 a.m. and lasted all day with mushball tournaments taking place on each of the softball fields while participants walked the Relay "track" around the snack bar and complex walkway off and on throughout the day.
"It's miserable; it's cold, and for them to come out and continue to play the tournament is great; it's really awesome. It shows their support for the cause," said coordinator Casey Peacock. "It's been a good day. We just adapted and overcame."
Peacock said the event has done well with fundraising with a few events happening prior to Saturday and a various sponsor donations from local businesses. She said she believes the event has brought in somewhere around the $30,000 mark.
"We really appreciate all of our sponsors and volunteers," she said. "Despite the weather, it has been a good day. It's just amazing the way people have stuck it out."
She said Relay for Life coordinators are also planning to do a follow up event to the Relay, such as holding the second half of the Relay later in the year. Closing ceremonies and Little Miss Relay were canceled Saturday. She said the goal is to hold fundraising events off and on throughout the year, so "people don't forget we're here."
"It's going great," said mushball coordinator Connie Cuevas-Florez Saturday afternoon as she and her teammates screamed and cheered from their dugout.
"It's cold, but everyone is having fun," she said. "I'm so excited and happy. I gathered around with the captains and I said, 'Do you still wanna play?' They said, 'Cancer doesn't sleep, and cancer doesn't stop because of the bad weather.' I said, 'OK, we're on.'"
Each mushball team played at least three games during the day, and the top three mushball teams received trophies at the end of the day.
"I don't think you could ask for anything better," Clark said about the event more than halfway through the day. "We've got 150 people here. I'm pretty pleased with what we got."
