A little more than a month from now shouts of joy, cries of sorrow and the laughter of hope will be heard coming from the grounds of Tahoma Junior High school, as participants of the 2010 Relay For Life of Maple Valley, Black Diamond and Covington circle the quarter-mile track for 18 hours to raise money in the fight against cancer.

The annual relay is a celebration of life, a fight for another birthday and a time of remembrance for those that have been touched by the ravaging affects of cancer.

“Cancer is a life and death issue,” said Margaret Harto, Mayor of Covington and co-founder of the local relay.

Harto, along with Sharon Scott, then an American Cancer Society volunteer, came up with the “crazy idea” of holding their own event after participating in Kent’s relay more than a decade ago.

Harto attended the luminary celebration, where candles are lit and placed inside paper bags with the names of someone who has either survived cancer or who has lost their battle against it.

“I sat in the stands and cried my eyes out,” Harto said. “At that point I became permanently attached.”

That was 1998, the year she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

By 2000, she and Scott had kicked off what at first was called the Tri-City relay. Now there are 19 teams, 128 participants and 5,379.00 pledged, with the numbers of participants and dollars still increasing.

Last year’s relay raised nearly $50,000 and close to $60,000 in 2008, according to Valerie Lyon who serves as captain of Covington’s team.

Lyon encourages everyone to come out in support of the relay.

“It’s a very moving experience,” she said, telling how the survivors take the first lap around the track before the luminary ceremony, where all the name’s on every lit bag are read allowed.

Lyon, along with her husband, a cancer survivor himself, will be there.

“I like the fact that it’s grass-roots, community supported and benefiting our community,” she said.

Co-chair Laura Hiner, along with Jenette Trube, said their goals are to not only “raise a lot of money that is needed to help find a cure and support the many programs the ACS offers for cancer patients and their families, but to increase awareness of our event.”

Hiner has participated in relay for the past six years as captain of one of Fred Meyer’s teams. Fred Meyer is one of the many corporate sponsors.

Harto summed up the power that relay holds for all that attend.

Recalling the moment when she was told she had cancer, she said you will never know the feeling when you hear that word – cancer. Describing it as a feeling unlike any other she said that people that have been affected by cancer or have heard the word, can come to relay for support.

“It’s emotionally uplifting, to be with others that have heard that word,” Harto said. “You feel like you have everybody’s arms around you. It’s OK to go ‘Yes, one more year!’”

What started as a singular effort to raise money for the American Cancer Society 1985 by Dr. Gordy Glatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma has turned into a life-changing experience for some 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities across the country and in 19 countries around the world, according the ACS website.

This year’s relay begins on June 25 at 6 p.m., lasting through the night until noon on June 26. Anyone can participate, join a team, form their own team, or make a donation online at www.covingtonrelay.org.

Hiner can be reached at 206-437-3538.

More information about the American Cancer Society can be found at www.cancer.org.