World Photo by Lou Sennick The first lap of the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, held last weekend is over. Cancer survivors and their caregivers started the relay early Saturday afternoon and continued on through the night and into Sunday.

Organizers were thrilled with the success of the Coos Bay-North Bend Relay for Life at North Bend High School over the weekend.

“It was awesome,” said Connie Bradley, the first-year chairperson for the event. “It was an incredible day.”

The relay brought in more than $91,000 for the American Cancer Society.

“Everyone just did an awesome job,” Bradley said.

She had set a goal of $106,000, but the $91,000 was better than the ACS goal of $78,000 for the event.

The highlights, as they are every year, included a big turnout for the survivor celebration and the victory lap by survivors to kick off the event, as well as the evening luminary ceremony.

Luminaries - purchased in memory of people who have died from cancer or in honor of cancer survivors or those currently battling the disease - circled the track for the ceremony.

“The track just glowed,” Bradley said. “It was beautiful.”

At the survivor celebration, Amelia Worth, who is battling leukemia and is awaiting a bone marrow transplant, received the Badge of Courage.

Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, served as the grand marshal for the relay.

Bradley praised the work of the steering committee, which helps plan the event each year, as well as all the participants.

“I'm just so impressed with everyone that came out, the team captains and their teams,” she said.

Bill Stoddard, a past relay chairman who helped mentor Bradley, rated the event as an 8 or 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.

“Everybody just seemed to enjoy it immensely and a lot of people said this was the best relay they've been to,” Stoddard said.

The North Bend-Coos Bay relay is the first of five on the South Coast this summer.

The Brookings-Harbor Relay for Life is July 7-8 at Brookings-Harbor High School, the South Coos County Relay for Life in Coquille is scheduled for July 14 and 15 at Coquille High School, the Gold Beach Relay for Life is Aug. 4-5 at Gold Beach High School and the Florence Relay for Life is Aug. 18-19 at Miller Park in Florence.

- From Staff Reports