Thankfully, Friday's heavy rains broke just in time to make most all 24 hours of this weekend's American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event at Northern Lehigh High School's Bulldog Community Stadium a success.

"Aside from the rain, it's been going really well so far," said Courtney Totten, Relay for Life staff partner at the American Cancer Society's Bethlehem location.This was the first time since this particular event's inception in 2007 that it was held in Slatington.Valerie Borman, chair of the event who, along with Fred Reith, of the The Starlites musical group of the Lehigh Valley, provided entertainment for it, said the annual event had previously been held for years in nearby Schnecksville."This year we became Relay for Life/Upper Lehigh County," said Borman. "People are associating it with just the Schnecksville area, but we actually cover Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh and Parkland school districts."In addition to walking around the high school's track, there were food, crafts and other activities available to participants. Also, three main ceremonies were held throughout the event, including the Survivors Ceremony to celebrate cancer survivors Friday at 7 p.m., a Luminaire Ceremony, including candlelit paper bags lining the track, to remember those that were lost or who are still battling cancer Friday at 9 p.m., and a "Fight Back Ceremony" to provide factual information about the disease Saturday at 1 p.m.There were also raffles held throughout the 24 hours, including one at midnight, called a "Relay Survival Kit Raffle," that included a sleeping bag, toothbrush and more, as many team members stay the night in tents. Plus a raffle of assorted baskets and boxes donated by each team.Complimentary goodie bags and t-shirt for the cancer survivor, along with a thank-you card and goodie bag for their caregiver, plus a free dinner for the survivor and his or her family was also provided.By shifts, at least one person from each team is asked to walk the track continuously for the entire 24 hours. Oftentimes, however, at least one or two more join that person to keep him or her company. Though teams can be any number of people, said Cheryl Haas, the Relay for Life specialist for this particular event, they generally consist of between eight to 20; however, some teams have only five while others have as many as 45.However, unlike events like the March of Dimes Walk-a-thon, teams don't necessarily get monetary donations for the amount of laps they walk or the amount of time they walk.Instead, "relays" are really year-long fundraising efforts, such as hoagie sales, car washes, and more, that run from September 1 to August 31 each year."Your fundraising efforts are pretty much anything you want to do," explained Haas, who then held up as an example a plastic water bottle full of dimes in memory of Sandie Miller, of Fogelsville, who passed away in December of last year.Sandie's son, Roy, explained that his mother had been very moved by the story of a 6-year-old boy, named Carlos, from Pottstown, Pa., who had given a dime he had found on his way to school to his kindergarten teacher, a cancer survivor, in hopes of finding a cure for the disease. In fact, the Pottstown community, also touched by the boy's act of kindness, had raised $25,000 the next year during its area's 2007 Relay for Life."I'm not exactly sure where she heard this story," explained Roy, "But once she heard it, she told everybody about it."He went on to say that, "While my mom was still around…in her final months…she said she wanted us to get 99 bottles of dimes to go toward a cure," adding that he and family and friends posted their goal on Facebook and elsewhere, along with talking to others about it, in order to try to achieve that goal for her. (For additional information on how to support their "dimes make a difference" cause, visit their Facebook page.)In memory of Sandie, the Cracker Barrel restaurant of Fogelsville, where she worked, also donated the hot food and beverages for the Survivors Dinner.The original Relay for Life fundraising event, which was held in 1985 in Washington state, has developed into a worldwide effort held in at least 42 countries, Borman said."I just think it's important to get out and raise money for the American Cancer Society so they can do research to help find a cure and better treatments (for cancer), which they have already been doing for the past many years," said Betsy Laub who, along with her husband, Randy, a cancer survivor, were walking for the Morgenland Church (Orefield) team.