BILLINGS - Relay for Life was an all night success, according to organizers. The relay kicked off Friday afternoon with opening ceremonies at 7 that night and the final lap at 8:30 Saturday morning. Thousands gathered at the West High Track for the event, and more specifically, for the cause. Thousands of luminaries were bought and lit, lining the track and spelling out "HOPE" across the West High Bleachers. Every single luminary represented a person who has battled cancer.
The neat thing about Relay for Life, and the thing that makes it an event drawing thousands each year, is that everyone there is united for the same reason. Teams representing everything from law firms to construction companies to healthcare, and they're all fighting in their own way.
Almost everyone on the track Friday and Saturday had been touched by cancer in some way. Some are survivors, some are care-givers and some are just fighters. And everyone has a different way of phrasing their fight for a cure. We asked around to see what some of those life saving slogans were Friday night. Here are some the ones people were sporting on banners and t-shirts: "Slaying the dragon, and the dragon is representing cancer." says one relayer. "Meryll Lynch is bullish on America and bullish on a cure." reports a man from the Meryll Lynch team. "Knocking out cancer." this one came from St. Vincent Healthcare. Some rely on faith and prayer for their weapons and slogans. "Got faith, basically we just have to keep our faith up and if we believe we can conquer cancer, we can." "Hope, we wanna spread hope out for everyone, and hope for a cure." "People helping people, all of us coming together as a community." "Celebrate, remember and fight back." And with every step taken, every flower sold, every luminary lit and every dollar raised Friday and Saturday, they did fight back, or however you want to say it. "Rocketing cancer out of here." "Building for a cure." "We're gonna knock cancer out of the park." No matter how you phrase it, thousands around Yellowstone County united this past weekend, one against cancer.