Relay for Life starts Friday

About 145 teams with 10 to 15 members each are expected to participate.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- One of the highest-ranking American Cancer Society Relays for Life in the country hits the pavement this week.
The Boardman relay is from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. Saturday at Spartan Stadium, located behind Boardman Center Middle School, Market Street.
Mark Luke, one of the event's organizers, said 145 teams have registered this year. Each team consists of 10 to 15 members.
The fund-raising goal is $353,000. Last year, the event raised about $332,000.
In 2005, the Warren and Boardman relays ranked first and second, respectively, in Ohio and 18th and 74th in the country because of the amounts raised.
The 24-hour event includes a cancer survivors' lap, and Luke also pointed out the Mahoning County relays earned the Pack the Track award for the number of cancer survivors who participated.
Survivor participants
Last year, both Mahoning and Trumbull counties earned the national award for the number of cancer survivors who participated. Mahoning County led all counties in the population group of 250,000 to 499,999 with 1,096 cancer survivors at six relays.
Trumbull County had 2,218 cancer survivors at five relays in the 150,000 to 249,999 population bracket.
"Only three counties in Ohio received the award, and two of them are here," said Al Stabilito, public relations director of the Eastern Ohio American Cancer Society.
Ross County was the third Ohio county to receive the award.
Security for this weekend's event will be provided by township police and the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department, Luke said.
The opening speaker is Linda Harrigan, a township native and cancer survivor who lives in Washington, D.C., and who also is a spokeswoman for the National Osteoporosis Foundation. "It's an open community event," Luke added.