Seventeen years ago Mary Sciandra brought the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life to the West End of Monroe County. Sciandra passed away last October after her own courageous battle against cancer, and this year all Monroe County Relay for Life events are being dedicated in her memory.

The most recent Relay for Life took place over the weekend at Pleasant Valley's high school track. Saturday morning the tent city was springing up in the field behind the district office.Tents were decorated in accordance with this year's chosen theme of "United We Stand" and the 37 teams that participated were each assigned a state to represent."We have a lot of activities planned throughout the day to help keep the kids busy," said co-leader Cory McKeever. "We try to keep something happening for the whole 24 hours."According to McKeever and co-leader Susan Geiger, each of the teams must have someone walking on the track throughout the 24 hours, unless there is an event taking place. One such event for which the walking stopped was the Celebration of Life that took place right before sundown on Saturday evening.The Celebration of Life was kicked off by Michael Adams who spoke of his daughter Candice Adams Ismirle and her battle with breast cancer. Ismirle, who passed away a little more than a year ago, would have been 36 years old."I grew up believing that cancer would be cured in my lifetime," Adams said. "I never thought it wouldn't be cured in my daughter Candice's lifetime."Adams encouraged those present to get good information when dealing with cancer and statistics. That was something he learned from his daughter. Do your research and do not believe everything that you are told. He stressed that Candice made sure to ask the hard questions during her battle.One of the teams walking in the relay, the "Pink Kisses," were high school friends of Ismirle. They were there to honor others they knew who had succumbed to the disease, but especially in memory of Ismirle and in support of her parents and her sons who were attending the relay.Ismirle and her friends were members of the Pleasant Valley Class of 1999."My daughter ran on this very track, she walked the same halls that you do every day," Adams told the students taking part in the relay. "This is important what you are doing. You need to do this every year, not just this year."Adams remarked that the numbers in attendance at the event were going down as the years go on and that people need to make plans to come back every year and to continue to take the time and make the effort to raise money for research.As part of the Celebration of Life, survivors gather on the track to take a victory lap around the field. The victory lap is followed by the lighting on luminarias that line the outer fence of the track. The luminarias are each in honor of a cancer survivor or in memory of someone who passed away from cancer. There was even a set of luminarias in memory of pets that had passed from the disease.McKeever said the American Cancer Society serves many different functions besides research into a cure."We help to provide transportation, we sponsor the 'Road to Recovery' and 'Hope Lodge' for patients who need a place to stay while receiving treatment away from home and we work with Pantene 'Beautiful Lengths' to supply wigs for patients as well.""The relay lasts 24 hours because the going into the darkness in the evening represents being diagnosed with cancer and entering into the darkest time of the disease and treatment," McKeever said. "Daybreak symbolizes a cure and being a survivor."Geiger said that the mission of the Relay for Life is to raise awareness and to educate the public about cancer and to raise funds to accomplish that mission and to aid in research.At the conclusion of the Celebration of Life, McKeever told the survivors, caregivers and family members that they all had a story to tell."Each and every one of you has a story to tell, and we want you to share it," McKeever said. "Turn to the person next to you, talk to anyone here, visit the tent next to yours and share your story. We focus on the positive. We learn from loss and we continue to look toward the future."The West End Relay for Life set its fundraising goal at $80,000 for this weekend's event. Anyone interested in getting more information on future events, is in need of assistance or who would like to make a donation can call 800-ACS-2345.