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Marge
and Russell Hammaker plant flowers in memory of husband/father
Ray Hammaker during the Relay for
Life held in Sidney Friday. The
Hammakers are from Ansonia. Photo submitted by Stacy Kies Lee
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Local family
walks in Relay for Life
By George Starks
SIDNEY- Ray Hammaker, Ron Thompson, Ruth Maloney and Barbra Sutherland.
Names that many of us don’t know but all four had two things in common.
They were all related in one form or another and they all lost their
individual battles with cancer.
In 2003, Ray “The Can Man” Hammaker lost his battle with cancer while
Thompson succumbed in 2007.
Four years ago, Hammaker’s son, Roger, who works in Sidney, was
introduced to Relay for Life through some friends of his at his work
place.
Friday, Hammaker’s widow, Marge (Thompson) Hammaker, and 23 family
members made the trek to the Shelby County Fairgrounds for the annual
cancer benefit.
“We’ve been going there for three or four years now,” said Marge
Hammaker. “It was great to have all my kids there and so many of the
grandkids. They all loved Ray. I know Ray was looking down on us and
was pleased but it’s all about raising money to fight cancer and that
would mean more to him than anything.”
Relay for Life is not only about those who have fallen to cancer but
it’s also for cancer survivors.
“Usually they have all the cancer survivors take the first lap around
the track there,” Hammaker said. “Then, the track is open to everyone
that wants to walk. I don’t know how many people were there but they do
draw a big crowd and usually raise a large amount of money. There were
a few luminary spots that weren’t taken but not many. Some took
advantage of having pictures put on their bag. To have the luminary was
10 dollars and the picture was 16 dollars total.”
According to Hammaker, it will take a couple of weeks to know how much
money was raised for the charity.
Hammaker said if it weren’t for her son Roger, they probably wouldn’t
have known about the charity event. She also said it’s become a yearly
thing and will continue to be in the future.
“The first year we went, we just attended because we didn’t know what
you could do. So we never bought a luminary,” said Hammaker. “We had no
idea you could do this for a donation and to be honest, we didn’t even
know what it was about. But Roger and I just went to check it out. Now,
it’s a family affair and I hope it stays that way.”
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