87 Survivors Honored And Recognized At Relay For Life

WEST HOLT AMERICA'S TEAM was honored at the Holt County Relay For Life held June 3 in O'Neill.

The Relay For Life of Holt County celebrated a decade of HOPE on June 3. There were 87 proud survivors honored and recognized. They took the first lap during the opening ceremony led by the American Legion, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts at about 7:30 p.m. The West Holt Americana’s team had participated all 10 years that Holt County has had a relay so they also led the first lap.

During the rest of the evening, there were games at different team campsites and a lot of walking going on. A “Fight Back” ceremony was held at dusk, and a poem was read about hope and combating cancer. When it got dark, the luminarias were lit to honor and remember those who have or have had cancer. Each name was read over the loud speaker and holds a special place in our hearts. There were 850+ luminarias lit up around the track.

Participants would walk off and on throughout the night until the closing ceremony that took place at 7:00 a.m. Relay teams were thankful to stay all night without being rained out. At this time, Holt County has raised $45,000+ including inkind donations. What an accomplishment! What a way to remember, celebrate, and fight back!

We would like to thank all those who helped put on this event! Our Platinum Sponsors who gave $500 & up are: Holt County Independent, KBRX, O’Neill Pharmacy and West Holt FCCLA. Our Gold Sponsors who gave between $250 and $499 are: Adamson Distributing, Alpha Galvanizing Inc., AseraCare Hospice, Atkinson Family Chiropractic, Avera Holt Co. Medical Clinic, Avera O’Neill Family Medicine, Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital, Cargill Inc., Elkhorn Valley Family Medicine, Golden LivingCenter, Great Western Bank, Greater Sandhills Family Healthcare, KGRD Radio, Knox Ranch, Mitchell Equipment, Nonpareil-RDO Potatoes, North Central Anesthesia Services, North Central District Health Department, O’Neill Farms/Dowd Grain, Pinnacle Bank, Ranchland Auto Supply/Carquest, Torpin’s Rodeo Market, Tri-County Bank, Wakefield Insurance Agency, West Holt Medical Services and X-tra Productions. Our Silver Sponsors who gave between $100 and $249 are: Anson Feed & Trucking, Braun’s Food Center, Reiser Insurance Inc., Triple R Tire and Sunrise Floral.

We would also like to thank committee members who helped plan the event and helped a lot during the event: Lisa Bilstien, Rick Hammer, Deb Hammer, Ross Tomjack, Linda Appleby, Kim Metschke, and Sara Hoffman. We want to thank Joel Pruden with Xtra Productions for letting us use his sound system, helping us out with announcements, and playing great music for us before and during the Relay. Thank you to Nick Hostert and the O’Neill Public School for allowing us to use their track and facility. Thank you to the Holt County Doctors and Health Professionals who came out and supported the survivors and assisted with the opening ceremony. Thank you to Fr. Jeff Lorig for doing the invocation prayer. Thank you to Leighton Mlady and Peyton Randolph for singing the National Anthem so beautifully. Thank you so much to the Elkhorn Valley Family Medicine team who ran the concession stand and raised over $1000 in just that one evening. Thank you to Braun’s Food Center for sponsoring a tent for the silent auction and Mike Givens for hauling it. Thank you to Bob Thomas for making fun balloon animals for the kids throughout the evening. Thank you to those who donated silent auction items and those that won and bought them. We are sure to forget some folks, so please know that we appreciate everyone who helped out! Most of all, we want to thank the survivors, teams, and attendees for supporting this great cause; to fight back on cancer and help those going through cancer. TOGETHER, WE WILL FIND A CURE!

At this time, we do not have anyone to chair this wonderful yearly event, if you or someone you know is interested, please call Kelli Tomjack at 402-336-1446 or email klgtomjack@gmail.com. I believe Holt County would be at a loss if this did not continue. Thank you for your consideration.