Seffner Relay For Life At Burnett Middle School (April 17-18, 2009) - # - MyPaperNow.com

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"My family has been deeply touched by cancer," said Cindy Lucas, with her daughter, Amanda. "My brother, my father, aunts and uncles, have all passed away from cancer."

The Lucas Family and Friends team was one of many that particpated in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Seffner, at Burnett Middle School, April 17-18, 2009.

"This is my way of fighing back," Cindy Lucas said.

"We've had a lot of cancer history in my family, it's worth it [to get involved in the Relay for Life]," said Dennis Schrand, left, president of the Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce. "As of Monday, we had already raised $12,000, which is $1,000 mor than last year. After tonight, we'll raise even more." His company, Tampa Bay Data, signed up as a main sponsor of the Seffner Relay for Life.

With Schrand is, from left, Deanna and Russ Oberbroeckling, and their children, Hannah and Kelsey; and Emma Blackwelder, who said she "set up the survivor's tent, with a lot of community support."

"This is my first year getting invovled in the Relay and I'm doing it for my best friend," Blackwelder said. "She lived with us for a year while she completed treatment. She is cancer free." Blackwelder said it was too soon for her friend "to be here tonight" but Blackwelder nevertheless wanted her friend to know this: "I love you, Stephanie."

"Ginnie and I are both survivors, she more than I. She had a much rougher bout with it," said Al Carlson, center, with his wife, Ginnie, left, and their friend, Stace Donlon. Their "Rocky and Bullwinkle" team was a Bronze Team at the Seffner Relay for Life at Burnett Middle School, April 17-18, 2009.

Al Carlson said he had skin cancer that required a doctor to "cut it out and send me home." His wife, he added, had ovarian cancer; she completed chemotherapy treatment in October.

As for Donlon, she said she met Ginnie "in a very funny way," having just moved to the area from the East Coast of Florida shortly before Election Day. "The weather wasn't too good and I saw this person standing out by the road proudly, with a sign for a candidate," Donlon said. "A person with a very, very naked head. And I knew that very naked head could mean only a couple things. This person is not healthy or recently has not been healthy. I thought, if this woman has the strength to do that, I have to learn more about the candidate she supports."

Donlon said having just moved to the area, she hadn't had enough time to read up on the local candidates. So, she walked over to Ginnie Carlson, the woman with the "very, very naked head" and asked a few questions, which in turn led her to a friend she meets up with every other week for lunch.

"I didn't know anybody [in town] but she introduced me to everybody," Donlon said. "I had never even heard of Seffner a year ago. It made me a part of a community that I didn't even have any connection to."

"I am a team of one," said Pattie Stewart. "It just kind of worked out that way."

Stewart said she is walking for selfish reasons. "My mother, my father, my brother, and my sister have all had cancer," she said. "I do it for selfish reasons, because I don't want to get cancer. It's a way I can get money together to help research and to find a cure. Hopefully they can find a cure before I get it."

The Seffner Relay for Life was held at Burnett Middle School, Aug. 17-18, 2009.

Pattie Stewart, left, with her sister, Gail Smith. "I'm a cancer survivor, three- and a-half years ago," Smith said. "Shock" is how she described her sense of being after she was diagnosed with cancer. "But you've got to do what you've got to do, and I've really been fine," she said. "I had surgery within two- and a-half weeks and I went back to work."

Most important, she said, "is to keep a positive attitude. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Ask other survivors lots of questions." She gave high marks to the American Cancer Society and its many resources, including a toll-free support hotline.

Smith added that walking this year's Survivor Lap at the Seffner Relay for Life "was very emotional."

"We have young people and old people. The Relay brings everybody together because it's such a widespread issue," said Dennis Schrand, president of the Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce, with Emma Blackwelder, also a Relay organizer. "I personally don't know anybody who's not been touched by cancer in one way or another. I really don't. And the good thing is every year we see more and more survivors. That's a huge benefit [of the Relay fundraising mission]."

Schrand gave high marks to the chamber's efforts to support the Relay and to the chamber itself, which he said is "doing many, many, many more things today that it has in the past 10 years. Upcoming: The May 16 Seffner Business Expo and the Second Annual Veterans Day Seffner Fest.

"I had to be with them, they invited me to come and be with them," said Debbie Teplinski, in front, at left. Her husband is Master Phil Teplinski of the U.S. Taekwondo Hapkido Martial Arts Center. "It's a good cause. We've had family members with cancer and they need support. Once you're diagnosed with cancer, it's not the end of the world. There are bigger and better things to look forward to."

Her daughter, Christina Danner, standing, at left, is a black belt, as are most of the team members, she said. "I like to do a lot of team- building and community-support activities," she said. "I grew up in Seffner. Our school's in Seffner. I love Seffner."

Team members from the center, from left, in back: Dylan Arnett; Christina Danner; Dax, Abigail, and Amanda Galvan; Christian Ledford; Genevieve Schiffer; and Will Danner. In front, from left, Debbie Teplinski, Joey Long, and Karen Serrano.

The martial arts center is at the corner of Kingsway Road and U.S. Highway 92, across from Burnett Middle School, the site for the Seffner Relay for Life.

Rachel Roetter, left, works with the Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce as administrative assistant. With her is Emma Blackwelder.

"This is my first year [at a Relay]," Roetter said. "Especially with the economic times, the fact that so many people came out and donated, it's awesome. It's awesome, just how everybody is coming together. It's a unity of a cause, the cure for cancer."

Representing the team from Burnett Middle School are, from left, Colleen McBride, Brendan Hurley, Meghan and Xavier Ambrosino, and Pam Burnham, secretary to Herbert Peeples, the principal of Burnett, where the Seffner Relay for Life has been held in both 2008 and 2009.

"My family has been deeply touched by cancer," said Cindy Lucas, with her daughter, Amanda. "My brother, my father, aunts and uncles, have all passed away from cancer."

The Lucas Family and Friends team was one of many that particpated in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Seffner, at Burnett Middle School, April 17-18, 2009.

"This is my way of fighing back," Cindy Lucas said.

American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Seffner, at Burnett Middle School, April 17-18, 2009. "This is my way of fighing back," Cindy Lucas said." href="javascript:openLB(515015394,'',XLarge,'',1024,737);"> "My family has been deeply touched by cancer," said Cindy Lucas, with her daughter, Amanda. "My brother, my father, aunts and uncles, have all passed away from cancer."

The Lucas Family and Friends team was one of many that particpated in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Seffner, at Burnett Middle School, April 17-18, 2009.

"This is my way of fighing back," Cindy Lucas said.

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