The journey toward the Relay for Life in Estevan has begun as the committee announced their 2014 chairperson last week.
Elva Iwanchuk is taking on the role of chair as she gets involved in the Estevan relay for the first time, though she isn't new to the Relay for Life spirit.
New to the Energy City, Iwanchuk was involved in the relay in Swan River for the past few years and was encouraged to get involved in the local effort by Tina Bird, the communications and marketing director, for the upcoming event. They first got to know each other through the local Lions Club.
Iwanchuk acted as chair of the relay in Swan River for four years, after she first attended a Relay for Life event because her sister in Roblin, Man. had been diagnosed with cancer. She attended the event in Roblin in support of her sister.
"The year that I did go to Roblin, where she lived, it rained from the moment I got to Roblin. I helped get them set up. All night it just poured rain. I still went home with the inclination to start the relay up in Swan," Iwanchuk said of her first experience and how it motivated her to continue. "I'm not sorry about what I got involved in."
In Swan River, the group held events like the pancake breakfast to launch the relay campaign. She said different things come up each year to help the participating teams pass the time during the event.
"You try to keep everybody entertained for 12 hours," Iwanchuk said. "I've enjoyed it. It's for a good cause."
Coming to Estevan in September, she wanted to be part of the team and got involved with the committee. Not everybody wants to step forward to take on the chair's responsibilities, so she found herself volunteering for the role.
"It's not as hard, none of the committees are. To me they aren't as hard as they make them out to be. We have the same problem in Swan trying to get committee members. But everybody did what had to be done," she added. "It's nice when you can get other people involved."
The Estevan Relay for Life campaign will launch on March 29 at the Estevan Shoppers Mall. Throughout May, the committee will be hosting events each weekend to rally support and encourage the community to take part in the relay.
The main event is slated for June 7 to 8. Iwanchuk noted she is still interested in holding the event outside because of how much the atmosphere changes and how much people just prefer to be outdoors.
"We started with 28 or 30 teams (in Swan River), but the weather was always bad, so we moved it inside the arena. A lot of the feedback came that it was hard to walk on the cement for 12 hours," she said, noting they were arranging to hold the event indoors rain or shine.
Iwanchuk said the committee isn't looking at hosting the event outside this year, though she likes the atmosphere and spirit of the relay as an outdoor event.
"It's good to have it outside. That's where it was meant to be, and have it as a backup plan to move it inside if the weather is severe. That first year it was cold, and it started to rain and get colder in the night, but you know what, we had people out on the track walking with blankets around them and they seemed to enjoy that better."
She said the numbers have dwindled of late in Swan River, and noted they saw their numbers decrease at least partly by the move to inside the arena. Locally, the Relay for Life has also seen a decline in teams and donations, and she said it's possible moving inside could have been negatively impacting the Estevan events.
The local group raised just over $60,000 last year for the Canadian Cancer Society.
