Luminaria Ceremony Lights Up Deicke Park

Deicke Park's track lit up Friday evening with more than 4oo paper bags with a candle inside in honor of survivors or in memory of lost ones.

The candles were part of the luminaria ceremony for the third annual Huntley Relay for Life at Deicke Park.

Each of the bags cost $10, with profits going toward the American Cancer Society, the number one non-government fundraiser of cancer research.

The luminaria aspect of the night was dedicated to those whose lives were lost to cancer. Soon after nightfall, the paper bags were lit up on the track and members of the 18 teams walked past the glowing bags in commemoration of those people.

“I sit here and look at the community coming together and it’s just amazing,” Rankin said.

Huntley resident and reading and language arts teacher at Heineman Middle School Beverly Smith considers the luminaria her favorite part of the Relay for Life.

“It is quiet, poignant, memorable, and a moving experience,” said Smith, who sported a pin reading ‘My Mother is My Hero’ that night.  

Smith is the sponsor of the HMS student council, which led the school to raising $24,000 this year for Relay for Life, and more than $100,000 over the course of five years.

Smith’s connection to Relay for Life springs from her mother Nancy Crement, who was diagnosed in December of 1994 with uterine cancer, but overcame the disease through her constant positivity.

“No matter what would happen to her she stayed positive,” said Barb Amsler, Crement’s doctor at St. Joe’s Hospital. “She took all of her energy and put it into the relay.”