Tartan Relay for Life Friday—Fireworks, Car Bashing Planned

Want to lash out against cancer? Or just feel like smashing something?

You’ll have your chance tonight, at .

One of the 63 teams participating in the event painted an old van donated by a salvage yard in different colors to represent different cancers, and for a small donation, attendees will be able to take a swing, said American Cancer Society community relations staff partner Nick Pilger.

It’s one of a number of fundraisers that will be going on at Tartan’s 10^th annual Relay for Life Friday, May 18. This year is extra special because its total fundraising over the years of the event surpassed $1 million.

More than 700 students are taking part in the 12-hour event, which is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, Pilger said.

The public is invited to be part of the event from when the doors open at 6 p.m. to the end of the fireworks show, which begins at 9:45 p.m. The opening ceremony is at 7 p.m., Pilger said.

“It’s almost an indescribable feeling when you walk onto that track and you see thousands of people there in support of the same cause and a large portion of them being high school students that have devoted so many hours to put this together,” he said. “It’s one of those experiences that once you see it, you never want to miss it again.”

This year’s event is in memory of the five Tartan High School students who have died of cancer during the 10 years the school has been doing the relay: Katie Jurek, Aaron Fowler, Larry Williams, Nikki Schaut and Alex Crowley.

Crowley died March 31 this year of brain cancer, and his family is going to be speaking at the luminaria ceremony, Pilger said.

“It should be a very emotional time,” he said. “(The luminaria ceremony) is probably the most impactful and memorable time of the night for most of the participants.”

The honorary chairs this year are cancer survivors Sara Durst, a Tartan graduate, Terry Kapfer, a Tartan student, Andrew Swanson, a Tartan student, and Paula Schnarr, a community member, Pilger said. 

While the relay offers time for reflection, there’s also plenty of time for fun.

For the first time this year, they’ll be doing the “dude looks like a lady” lap during the public portion of the event, Pilger said. During the lap, guys dress up in women's clothes and travel around the track, collecting donations from their fans, Pilger said. The team of the dressy male who gets the most money gets credit for all of the donations earned during the lap, he said.

Whether it’s for the fundraisers or the fireworks, Pilger said everyone is invited to stop by Tartan's million dollar relay.

“It’s just a great event,” he said. “The more people we have the more powerful it is.”