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By SUSAN SHARP

sharp@lafollettepress.com

A drenching storm complete with lighting and high winds caused Friday’s Relay for Life to be cut short.

While the event was curtailed, fundraising efforts weren’t.

“We raised right at $60,000,” said event co-chair Melissa Smith.

That put the group $2,000 over its original goal of $58,000.

While she is happy with the money generated for cancer research and other American Cancer Society efforts, other events from the abbreviated occasion  resonated with Smith.

Several cancer survivors gathered at a tent to learn more about the ACS Look Good Feel Better program. ACS representatives were on hand to provide beauty tips and free product samples.

“These are ladies actually going through treatment,” Smith said of the women who received makeovers under the tent. “It was great to see their spirits lifted up.”

The effects of chemotherapy can be devastating to a woman’s self-esteem and her skin, Smith said.

The Look Good Feel Better team walked the women through tips to camouflage complexion problems and offer new avenues for caring for their skin.

“They also gave the women $300 makeup kits,” Smith said.

Before the Relay for Life event ended, men had the chance to strut their stuff in the Dude Looks Like a Lady contest where dollars equaled points.

Josh Etter of the First Volunteer Bank Team garnered first place after earning a $121 from the crowd, according to Smith.

“It was quite amusing,” she said.

Smith said the bad weather caused some of the planned events to be postponed, but the committee has a plan.

Later this month, a recognition ceremony will be held to take the place of the popular luminary ceremony which honors those who have cancer and those lost to cancer.

She said the inability to hold that ceremony due to the rain had been particularly “crushing” but the committee is working to ensure it is held.

“We had so many activities planned,” Smith said.

This was the first year that Smith and her co-chair Paige Powers had taken the helm of the event.

“It was a great experience, very rewarding,” she said. “We had a great committee and it turned out better than I ever thought it would.” 

Rain doesn’t dampen fun, donations at Relay for Life