Perfect day, turnout celebrate Cancer Walk

    It couldn’t have been a better day or turnout for the 2022 All-Cancer Color Walk on Saturday.
    The largest group ever to participate with 156 people registered also raised the most funds on record of more than $20,200, said Shawn Jaeger, one of the hospital committee members.
    After lining up on 8th Street, colored chalk was tossed into the air covering the participants as they took off on the 5K route in Imperial.
    Along with way, three color stations doused them again with more chalk.
    The all-color theme was chosen this year to recognize all forms of cancer and the many colors that identify them, said Jaime Hiett, committee chairperson.
    Prior to the start, Rylie Mintling read a letter from her aunt, Roz Sheldon, a former Wauneta resident and cancer survivor who was diagnosed in 2014.
    “Something I want others to understand is when cancer goes away, the treatment ends but the cancer patient doesn’t,” she wrote.
    “Be careful not to assume that person has returned to normalcy. We were lost in the process of diagnosing and treatment and we lost parts of who we once were,” she added.
    However, the kindness and love she received from the community and southwest Nebraska gave her a “beautiful view of God’s work through my hometown, friends and family.”
    She wrote she won’t ever be physically whole again, but added, “My family, friends and strangers who genuinely have cared through action and heart put me back together again.”
    Since the Cancer Walks started in 2010, more than $170,000 has been raised to help those battling cancer and receiving preventative treatment, Jaeger said.
    Winners of the raffle items were Lucille Suppes, half beef; Rhonda Smith, flat top grill and cooler; Wendi Nordhausen, 2-day Blackhawk getaway; and Lori Mendenhall, 2 Husker tickets and $100 cash card.
    This was the first year since 2019 the walk was held in person.
    Next year’s event will be held at the hospital’s clinic location in Wauneta, tentatively on Sept. 30, 2023.