After twice defeating cancer, Iolan Donna Rourk was able to celebrate double Friday evening.
Rourk was one of the many who participated in the 14th annual Allen County Relay For Life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
This year’s theme — celebrating birthdays — carried special significance for Rourk, who also celebrated her birthday at the relay.
And if that wasn’t enough, Friday also marked the 10th anniversary of Rourk’s being diagnosed as cancer-free.
“Since it was my birthday, I thought it would be nice to come down and help celebrate,” said Rourk, who politely declined to give her age, joking only that a guess that she was 39, “was off by quite a bit.”
Rourk was treated for breast cancer in 2000, earning a clean bill of health that July. Before that, she was treated for melanoma in 1967.
“The melanoma was so long ago, I almost forgot about it,” she said.
The relay brought scores of participants to the courthouse square through what turned out to be a delightful overnight romp of songs, dances, games and plenty of walking. Friday’s stifling heat quickly gave way as the sun disappeared beyond the western horizon. A brisk south wind kept most everyone comfortably cool.
Members from 19 relay teams brought in more than $51,000, down from the $56,000 collected in 2009.
“But we still topped $50,000” noted Deb Scheibmeir, one of the event’s organizers.
A survivors walk featured some who had been diagnosed more than 30 years prior, while others dealt with a more recent diagnosis.
DIANA ASHER, a retired administrator at USD 257, was diagnosed with breast cancer, made it to the relay despite undergoing a mastectomy only nine days earlier, on July 14.
A routine mammogram in May revealed the cancer, “which turned my entire life upside-down,” Asher said.
An MRI and biopsy confirmed the presence of stage-zero breast cancer, the most easily treatable.
Doctors were able to remove all of the cancer surgically, which means Asher will not have to undergo radiation treatments.
“I just said, ‘Lord, it’s not supposed to be like this,’” Asher recalled. “And He said, ‘what more do you want? I made it stage-zero.’”
The entire ordeal has left Asher excited for the future. And she implores others to undergo routine mammograms.
“I do it once a year, sometime around my birthday,” she said. “It’s something everyone should do.”
SUNDRA MEITLER, an Iola native in Sylvan Grove, also was in the mood to celebrate for multiple reasons.
She and her father, Iolan Edward Riebel, both took part in the Survivors Walk, which started the 12-hour relay.
Meitler was treated for uteran cancer 15 years ago. Riebel had a cancerous growth removed from his skin about 20 years ago, she said.
Meitler likely would not have been at the relay, but for another reason. Riebel and his wife, Eleanor, are celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary this month as well.
“I just snuck down when we heard about this,” Meitler said.
THE RELAY featured a number of extracurricular activities to keep participants engaged through much of the evening, from karaoke and a benefit auction to a 30-minute Zumba session.
By 7 a.m. Saturday, Annette Ratlief and Linda Odle, members of the Allen County Hospital team, each had made 70 laps around the southern half of the courthouse square. Veronica Bazo, with the Lumbering Lutherans Plus 2 team had 44 laps, while Ashley Smith, with ACH, had 40 laps.
The Gates Corporation team brought in $12,219.28, while Herff Jones, Iola Sisters OK5A and ACH each brought in more than $5,000. Dynamic Duo and Friends and Family Phyisicans each topped $3,000, Chartwells brought in more than $2,000 and Personal Service Insurance raised more than $1,000. Other teams pariticipating, either by walking or solely raising funds, were Twin Motors, Fishers of Men Fishing For a Cure, Minor Chiropractic, Iola Pharmacy, USD 258, Great Southern Bank, Kappa Alpha Sisters, Lumbering Lutherans, Colony Diner, Mission Possible and the Klein family.
The benefit auction raised $1,129.50 by itself, and included a pair of memorable bid-offs with Brad and Susan Cook. In the first instance, the husband and wife bid against each other to buy a bin of pulled pork from Dudley’s Do Right Barbecue. Brad Cook wound up winning at a price of $75.
Brad Cook then squared off against John Barker of Uncle John’s Karaoke in a bidding war over the choice of a University of Kansas or Kansas State University ball cap. Barker wound up paying $130 for the cap, which included an oil change at Fastlube of Iola.
In addition, massage therapists Julie Smith and Jaime Garrett were on hand until 3 a.m. Saturday providing massages to the weary walkers. Both donated their proceeds to the relay.
Gwen Teft won a tent canopy in a drawing for the walkers who made it from midnight to the 7 a.m. conclusion.
