photo by Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph Mike Barrios walks with his daughter Katrina White, who was the event leader and also a cancer survivor in Friday's Relay for Life of Smith County event held at T.B. Butler Square in downtown Tyler. The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is a walking event that is held to remember those with cancer and support those living with cancer.

The music was going, the doctor was dancing and before Devoria Ates knew it she was up on her feet cutting a rug too.

Ms. Ates, 65, couldn’t let her oncologist, Dr. Sasha Vukelja, show her up so the two women danced until the song finished, and Ms. Ates couldn’t dance anymore.

“I’m out of breath,” she said panting, but with a smile.

The lighthearted fun the two women had was characteristic of the play and smiles found around the T.B. Butler Fountain Plaza in downtown Tyler on Friday.

An estimated 400 people including cancer survivors and their supporters gathered for this year’s Relay for Life of Smith County.

The event, which is an American Cancer Society fundraiser, ran from 6 p.m. to midnight. The six-hour time span and the location were new this year, part of an effort to get more people involved.

“It will be a fun, compact night full of entertainment and fun things to do,” Arie Curtis, American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life community manager, previously said.

The annual event provides an opportunity to celebrate survivors, to remember those who have lost their battle with cancer and to fight back so people don’t ever have to deal with it again, Ms. Curtis previously said.

The night started with the recognition of survivors. Dr. Vukelja and Dr. Habte Yimer along with relay volunteers passed out medals to cancer survivors.

After that, cancer survivors took the first lap around the square, with their caregivers joining them on the second lap.

From that point on, the event included themed laps such as first responder/military, leg warmers/crazy socks, “Purple Rain” and more.

Aileen Mancilla, 10, was one of a handful of children cancer survivors in attendance. The Tyler resident came with her family, including mother, father and 6-year-old sister. She battled Wilms’ tumor, a kidney cancer, when she was 5. Her mother, Maria Mancilla, said the family comes to relay every year.

“I like the fact that you … get together with other survivors … (and) celebrate with everybody,” Mrs. Mancilla, 38, who works for Mother Frances Hospital, said.

Whitehouse residents Patti and Gary Lintner joined their son, cancer survivor Carl Lintner, 42, for the event. Mrs. Lintner said they come out every year.

“It’s a celebration for everybody because everybody here knows what it’s like to fight cancer,” she said.

Elbert Kendrick, 63, of Tyler, who is retired from Goodyear, was among a group of people from St. Louis Baptist Church at the event. Kendrick had thymoma, a type of cancer affecting the Thymus gland in the upper chest.

“It’s just my way of supporting … the American Cancer Society,” Kendrick said of attending the event.

This was the 30th anniversary of Relay for Life nationwide, and the 18th year for the local event.

This year’s event theme was “I Love the ’80s” and some participants gave their nod to the era by wearing leg warmers and fluorescent colors.

The goal was to raise $75,000. Event leader Katrina White, who oversaw sponsorship, said all of the money goes into an American Cancer Society fund, which the organization distributes.

Of every dollar the relay raises, 72 cents goes to research and patient resources with the rest going to administrative overhead.

The organization’s main goal is to alleviate cancer as a major health risk and it works to make this a reality through its cancer research, education and prevention efforts, patient services and advocacy.

Ms. White, who is a cancer survivor herself, said it was a lot of hard work to organize the event, but it was worth it.

“To see it come together, it’s very inspiring, very moving,” she said. “It’s the reason we relay — for every face that you see around here. It’s to inspire hope for a cure.”

 

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