(May 24, 2011) — Throughout the night, flickering votive candles illuminated the Relay for Life track, set aside in decorated paper bags scattered along Clark’s field. On May 14, the night hit an emotional peak as the participants in the 2011 Relay For Life gathered for the Luminaria Ceremony after a long day to remember those dear to them who had battled or lost their lives to cancer. At 9 p.m. when the Luminaria began, the night was still young and the event wouldn’t be over for another 12 hours. Over 30 local teams celebrated, remembered and fought back to raise cancer awareness starting at 9 a.m. and ending 24 hours later. For the past five years in May, the Clark field has been home to the hundreds of participants, spectators and cancer survivors in the Foothills Relay for Life event held by the American Cancer Society. In recognition of the passing of Clark graduate Haig Diradourian in December, friends and family lit 24 candles in remembrance of his battle lost to Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Clark’s event coordinator, Carol Pettegrew, a cancer survivor herself, said, “It was nice for [Haig’s] mom, Mrs. Diradourian, to see how so many people cared.” Team co-captain, Junior Sara Anis, said, “There were so many candles. A lot of people took more than [the usual] one lap and went around for a mile.” Hosting the event, Pettegrew and team captains junior Loris Mousessian and Anis formed a group of 13 students who made up the “Clark Can” team. Throughout the year, the team raised funds to meet their goal of $2,000. “We had to work a lot harder this year because we had a lot less people on the team than last year,” Mousessian said. “It was a lot harder than we thought.” Even so, Clark Can was able to raise all $2000. In order to compensate for the lack of participants seeking donations, Clark Can sold clothes in the Relay for Life rummage sale, collected on-campus donations and recycled. Taking the inspirational team name to a literal level, Clark Can made recycling efforts this year, collecting bottles and cans from the relay near the end of the event. The relay kicked off with the Survivor’s Lap, in which cancer survivors took the first walk around the track. Throughout the event, food was donated to participants through the courtesy of several local sponsors. In all, over 15 local businesses and schools participated and sponsored the event. Entertainment included comedy acts, live music by several bands — including the Crescenta Valley Jazz Band — and movies at night. Many students also passed time playing sports when they weren’t walking. Closing off the event in the Sunday morning sprinkle at 8:45, the participants listened to several cancer survivors speak at the Fight Back Ceremony, then took flags and signed the banner and pledge cards, representing everyone’s commitment to the fight against cancer. “There were a bunch of different cancer survivors who spoke. But there was this 12-year-old girl who came on with her parents; she survived leukemia,” Anis said. “I was sad to see her parents cry, but it was really nice to hear the girl speak.” Among the staff at Clark, several teachers donated to the cause themselves and encouraged their students to help too. PE teacher Chris Axelgard offered priority enrichment passes for those willing to donate a dollar to the Relay for Life donation bottle in the boys’ locker room. Altogether they were able to raise over $85. “Just think, if each kid here donated one dollar, that’s about twelve hundred dollars,” Axelgard said. Axelgard has been encouraging his classes to participate and raise money for several years now. “They do good stuff,” he said. In all, over $70,000 was raised by the Foothills region teams, including Crescenta Valley High School, Saint Francis High School, Rosemont Middle School, Hillside and Valley View Elementary Schools, as well as local businesses and families from Montrose and La Crescenta. Mousessian said, “It was very successful. I’m a part of it because it’s such a great cause. Why wouldn’t anyone want to be involved?”