Family raises $10,000 for Springfield relay

The relay runs from 6 p.m. today until 6 p.m. Saturday at Springfield High School.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

SPRINGFIELD — Darwin Emerson, 72, wears a bracelet of hope on each wrist, awaiting a cure for the disease that killed his wife of 50 years.

Dian Emerson, 72, died Nov. 16 after a 21⁄2-year battle with lung cancer.

Emerson’s granddaughter, Sara Huffstetler, 14, gave him one bracelet after she and her grandmother walked in last year’s Relay for Life at West Branch High School.

After Dian’s death, Emerson walked in the West Branch relay last month with his granddaughter. She gave him the second bracelet after that event.

“I told her that I would wear them until there’s a cure or until I’m gone,” the Poland man said. “She said that if I’m gone, then she’ll wear them until there’s a cure.”

After his wife’s death, Emerson called relay organizers to see how he could help. He also started volunteering for Hospice of the Valley, where his wife volunteered.

Emerson and his daughter, Cindy Huffstetler of North Benton, started raising money in February for the relay at Springfield High School.

“I just couldn’t sit around and do nothing,” he said, his voice cracking.

So far, they’ve raised more than $10,000 for the event that begins at 6 tonight and runs through 6 p.m. Saturday.

Huffstetler’s children and their friends, as well as Emerson’s other two daughters, Sandy Neveu of Virginia Beach, Va., and Sheri Duff of Columbus, helped with the fundraising and preparation for the relay, too.

Duff is proud of her father.

“He didn’t just sit around,” she said. “He got involved.”

Large sum

Renee Scherick, American Cancer Society staff partner for the Springfield relay, said that $10,000 is a large total for one team to raise.

“It’s the first time since the Springfield relay started that one team has raised $10,000,” Scherick said.

This marks the third year for the Springfield event.

The money raised by the Emerson family will be part of the Springfield total and will go to the American Cancer Society.

“We probably went to 20 events” to collect donations, Huffstetler said.

The three sisters and their father, all dressed in Relay for Life T-shirts, busied themselves at the high school Thursday, setting up tables, hanging decorations and banners.

They plan to walk with a banner that says, “Emersons Fishing for a Cure — Team Dian.”

Fishing is something their parents enjoyed doing together, Neveu explained.

Emerson spent five hours earlier this week traveling to and from Pennsylvania to get a canoe the team will carry as part of the activities.

Huffstetler said that she and her father, her children and their friends collected donations at several stores and events throughout the area. The generosity of Salem residents impressed her most.

Aside from digging into their pockets and purses to help the cause, many people the family encountered during the experience also shared their stories of loss.

“They started talking about their loss, and then we started telling them about ours, and I thought, ‘This is what it’s all about,’” Huffstetler said.

Emerson believes his wife would be happy with her family’s efforts.

“I know she’s up there right now saying, ‘You guys are doing a great job,’” he said.