by PAUL RAYNER

The annual local contribution to beating cancer got a little earlier public start in 2008.

The local Relay for Life Committee held a gala evening at The Dining Car on February 21. Including entertainment from Karen Nell and a presentation from Relay for Life manager John Vinci, the event was an attempt to say thanks for the past and to try to get some commitments for the future.

“We wanted to have an opportunity to single out our sponsors,” explained local Relay committee chair Linda Ransom, “to give them a thank you for past support and ask ‘how about this year too?’ It was something different. We have some new people on the committee and they bring new ideas. It’s always important to try something different.”

Ransom admits they did run into a few conflicts with other events, which is unavoidable in Boissevain, which cut down on attendance. However, there was still value in the evening.

“There are always ten other things to do in town that conflict. But we did hear from some sponsors and we got the message out. It was still worthwhile.”

New sponsors were added to the 2008 Relay, including Bieber Securities, Armstrong Seeds and DSCP. The Boissevain Co-op, Rickard Construction, Killarney Meats and the event host, the International Peace Garden, also confirmed their sponsorship for this year.

Sponsors are always important for events, and this is especially true for the Relay for Life. The event, which is held in the summer at the Peace Garden, involves teams raising money for cancer research through pledges and donations. At least one member stays on the track for the entire 12-hour event, and entertainment and games keep everyone occupied all night. There are touching ceremonies, such as the victory lap of cancer survivors and the lighting of the luminaries in honour of those who lost their lives to the disease. As all of the money raised at the event goes to the cause, the costs associated in running the event must be picked up from other sources. Sponsors are a real key.

“It is always an ongoing battle,” Ransom explained. “There are so many worthy things for people to contribute to. The Relay always gets such good support from our three towns (Boissevain, Deloraine, Killarney). We certainly get a good response from them.”

There is value to both sides for early sponsorship confirmation. For sponsors, they can be named on all of the event advertising. For the committee, it shores up money so they can effectively plan the evening.

This year the Peace Garden Relay for Life is scheduled for August 8/9. Ransom said it would follow a similar formula to the previous years, saying there is no reason to mess with success. They have also had a good start on planning. The invitations are on their way out to previously participating teams, and they are in the midst of contacting entertainment. It is important to get a jump.

“You really have to. It is a big event and it takes a lot of man-hours. You want to get things done as early as possible. We want to have everything organized by June at the latest. There is always some fine tuning.”

They are looking at running their own breakfast this year, because, as Ransom said, “they are up anyway.” They would also like to increase their teams to 30 from last year’s total of just over 20.

They continue to work on getting more American participation. As it is held in the Garden, this would be ideal to make it an international event. However, they have struggled with this in the past. Ransom said there are Relays in towns in northern North Dakota, which might be part of the reason they have not succeeded with their appeals as of yet. But the attempts will continue.

“We won’t give up,” she stated. “It would be awesome if we could, because we do have Americans on individual teams.”

One result of the gala evening is they will likely not have their annual kick off in the late spring. A lot of work is involved in this, the chair stated, and they will likely instead try to increase their presence at fairs and festivals in the area.

The 2008 Relay for Life will be the sixth held locally. Although there might have been questions regarding its longevity in the past, this is no longer the case.

“A couple of years ago, we wondered if it might run its course. People wouldn’t let it go. So we figured, as long as they were interested, we’ll keep it going."