Relay for Life a Success Despite the Monsoon Rains

Hundreds of spectators fill the bleachers on the Mahopac High School track as the lap is about to begin. Tracy Walsh, deputy director of the Putnam Chapter of the American Cancer Society summed it up best: “It’s not cancer. It’s just rain!”

Walsh’s comments came Saturday night around 10pm when organizers of the Relay for Life decided to cancel the 24-hour event after only 10 hours due to monsoon rains, strong winds, and dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning.

Relay coordinator Matt Feehan said despite the disappointment of shortening the relay, “our concern was for the safety of the thousands of participants. Many people remained inside the Mahopac High School and Mahopac Middle School for more than an hour and a half, but the weather forecast promised continued dangerous weather and we had no choice.”

Thousands of luminary candles that had been placed around the Mahopac High School track became soaked by the downpours and were collected and placed beneath a large tent.

A contingent of faculty, staff and students from Brewster High School walk despite the inclement weather. Many of bags containing the name of a loved one who survived his or battle against cancer or those who succumbed to the insidious disease were taken home by family members for private services at future dates.

Feehan said despite the weather more than $300,000 was raised by the Relay for Life, which upped the total amount raised in Putnam County to more than $3 million since the Relay for Life began in Putnam 14 years ago.

“Compared to cancer, this is really no big deal. We’ll be back next year—rain or shine,” he said.

Those desiring to participate in a Relay for Life won’t have to wait that long. On Saturday, Putnam’s second Relay for Life will take place in Patterson from 12 noon to 12 midnight at the Patterson Firehouse off Route 311.

Cancer survivor Dolores Mazzocut of Mahopac gets a hug from her friend Yvonne Morgan of Shrub Oak. Ryan Lagan of Patterson will be participating in a big way. The little boy has formed a team tabbed “Ryan’s Wish” that has raised $52 by selling bottles of water at the Patterson Little League fields while his brother plays baseball.

Ryan recalled that in 2006 “my Poppy Joe” lost his battle to cancer: “I want to make sure that nobody else has to lose his or her ‘poppy!’” Joe Girven, a retired career educator and President of the Putnam Industrial Development Agency, died following a valiant fight against the disease.
Betty McAllister of Mahopac and her sister Donna Fox of Cold Spring walk the track in the rain.
The rain fai ls to deter the part icipant s including Lisa Matropietro, Michelle Pack, and Kate Alix, all from Mahopac.
Survivors await the start of the Survivor’s Lap with special thoughts and prayers.
Jay Krishnan, a junior at Mahopac High School who recently won the grand prize in the Intel Science Competition in California with his study of cancer-causing cells, welcomes cancer survivors during the opening ceremony last Saturday as Congressman John Hall and Mahopac Superintendent Thomas Manko listen to the young man’s remarks.
Smiles and tears of happiness are common.
Members of the Charles family of Putnam Valley don foul weather gear before the Relay for Life is cancelled.