'Thrive under pressure'

Washington County is turning purple this week as the Relay for Life committee and volunteers gear up for the 2014 Relay for Life event from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23.

"We're painting the county purple, not just Washington," Chairman Ruchel Hiller said.

Hiller said the committee has done surveys over the last four or five years and one of the issues noted was that June is a busy month. As it turned out, one of the reasons June is so busy is that most of the towns in the county have celebrations and parades in June, and the committee turned that to their advantage by participating in every parade to generate more energy and involvement.

She and Deb Tisor made a float and they had a date every Saturday morning while the towns celebrated.

This year's theme is Tailgating Against Cancer. In keeping with the theme, Relay will have a cook-off this year, with cooking beginning at 9 a.m. Judging will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Another new feature this year is that the committee has a youth engagement chair ? Darren Hiller, Ruchel's son.

"Darren is a senior this year," she said. "He's actually been on the committee for three years."

One of the events for youth will begin at 4 p.m. on the square.

"We're getting cheerleaders from (Washington) high school," Hiller said. "There's a dance online called the "Fight Back Dance." They are going to have a cheer clinic for any little girls and boys who want to learn that, and then they are going to perform that."

The clinic is for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The performance will take place at 5 p.m. Children are encouraged to wear their school colors whether they're from Washington, Highland, WACO or Mid-Prairie.

Hiller's 12-year-old daughter Grace has her own Relay team. She will also introduce the "survivor speaker," Audra Barnhart, who was Grace's first-grade teacher.

Action will begin earlier Saturday morning. People can begin dropping off auction items to the Central Park Community Center at 7 a.m. The Kiwanis AMers will host its ninth annual Relay for Life breakfast at the United Methodist Church, with all proceeds going to Relay.

Opening ceremonies will begin at 9:45 a.m. The Washington Marching Band and the American Legion Color Guard will be on hand, and Pastor Jason Collier will give the opening prayer.

The rest of the day will be chock full of activities celebrating, remembering and honoring everyone touched by cancer.

It was Ruchel's uncle, who was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, that led Ruchel and her family to Relay. They formed Team Robert in her uncle's name, and some joined the Relay committee. As she said, "Ten years later, I am chairman."

"I know it will all fall into place, but never having done it, I sit there and think, 'What am I missing, what am I missing, what am I missing?' I'm sure the morning of, someone will come up with something and I will be like, 'OK, thrive under pressure. Give me a minute and I'll pull something out of my hat.'"

Perhaps thriving under pressure is what many people do every day when it comes to cancer.