Cancer doesn’t yield to weather conditions. That’s why cancer survivors, relatives of cancer victims and caregivers were so staunch in showing their unity in their fight against the deadly malady on Saturday.

Despite chilly, on-and-off rain showers, there was a large turnout for the luminary service and relay walk held by the American Cancer Society Telethon Committee at the Tamaqua Area High School stadium.

The rain prevented the lining of the athletic field with luminaria bags for the service but the other activities went on as scheduled during the nearly four-hour event.

More than 100 luminaria were lit under a tent and on the covered shelf at the stadium’s refreshment stands.

Sheri-Lynn Romanick, chairperson, said, “Our goal was $10,000. We don’t have the final figures, but I know we went over the goal.”

“It was a way better turnout than we expected because the weather was so rough,” she said. Because walkers were coming in at various times throughout the event, she didn’t have an attendance figure. She said the youngest walker was 3 years old and the oldest was 77.

Even the musical performances weren’t curtailed by the weather. Performing were the Hatter band, Lansford vocalist Angela Nardini, Joe Manjack of the Magic Polka Machine on Magic 105.5 and Brendan Bennett of Quakake. Romanick said all the musicians volunteered their time for the luminary service and relay walk.

Bennett, 22, who sang an inspiring and stirring edition of “Hallelujah,” is a graduate of Mahanoy Area High School and a recent graduate of Villanova University. He said he was attending the event because his mother, Stacey Bennett, died from cancer just before his 17th birthday. She had battled valiantly for 2 1/2 to 3 years.

“This was the event we always came to,” he said. “We would do the laps. She would try to do as many laps as possible.”

He said Joe Krushinsky, president of the Cancer Telethon, became a good friend.

“My mom is a reason why I’m a musician,” he said.

Nardini sang the emotional song “Angel on My Shoulder” during the luminary service.

During the service, Romanick said, “Each luminary represents a life.”

Everybody walking had a story about victims courageously battling cancer.

Charlee Swartz, a freshman at Lehighton Area High School, said grandparents Judy and Roger Repper are cancer survivors. He grandfather George Swartz and aunt Brenda Swartz both passed away from cancer.

She walked with her friend Samantha Muffley of Lehighton who is a caregiver to someone with cancer. Muffley said her grandmother, with whom she was close, had died from cancer.

Sponsorship chairwoman Donna Mullen said there were individual walkers and teams in the relay walk. She added that walkers came from Tamaqua, the Panther Valley, Lehighton, Palmerotn, Hazleton and points in between.