ABOVE: Martin County community members who combated cancer walk together during the 2024 Relay for Life of Martin County. The 2025 Relay for Life of Martin County will be from 4 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Martin County Fairgrounds in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT — Feel seen, feel remembered, feel honored. The 33rd annual Relay for Life of Martin County, an event that acknowledges people affected by cancer, will be from 4 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Martin County Fairgrounds in Fairmont.

Brianna Lutterman is a part of the Relay for Life leadership team and oversees the luminaries and the Garden of Hope. At the event, she tributes recognize individuals who have battled or been affected by cancer.

“It’s a spot where we honor our survivors and just remember them and say, ‘Hey, we see you.’ That’s one of the big things. It’s not just remembering those who have passed. Even if someone survived, they’re still traumatized by it. They’ve survived this horrible, horrible thing. And then it kind of gets forgotten. That trauma doesn’t go away, and they don’t always feel seen and remembered for what they went through, what they survived, what they fought. And some of them that I’ve spoken to, they’re like, ‘I love coming to this because I feel seen, I feel remembered, I feel honored,'” she said.

Lutterman endured a significant loss of her cousin to brain cancer in 2018, after a long and brave fight. Lutterman soon thereafter succeeded her present role on the committee, maintaining a drive to support and empower all individuals afflicted with cancer.

Lutterman acknowledged the community’s evident support throughout the 33 years Fairmont has been fundraising for and raising awareness of cancer. The support displayed by the community is a testament to its strength.

“The community recognizes that it’s an incredibly difficult, crushing thing to go through.

It recognizes how hard cancer is to deal with,” Lutterman said. “The community sees you and recognizes that you’re not alone. All of us have been through this. This is an unfortunate, universal shared experience that we all wish we didn’t have to go through.”

Lutterman described that ‘hope’ is a powerful theme tethered to the Relay for Life event. The event itself strives to inspire that feeling inside individuals who have faced cancer.

“Hope. We can hope for survival. Hope for better treatments, if not cures, in the future. Hope for better longevity. Thanks to research, breast cancer treatment and survival rates is 90 percent. I would say it’s hope. And hope for a better future. And remembering those who didn’t make it,”

Lutterman emphasized.

Activities and opportunities at the event include silent auction beginning at 4 p.m., car show at 4 p.m., childrens’ activities at 4 p.m., pork meal at 5 p.m., pedal pull at 5:30 p.m., live musical entertainment by The BeeKay’s at 5:30 p.m., opening ceremony at 7:15 p.m., survivor lap around the Martin County Fairgrounds, celebration of survivors, celebration of caregivers, honorary survivor recognition, Garden of Hope, Luminaria and more. The honorary survivors of this year’s Relay for Life are two-year-old Watson Clemetson and Amanda Hartwig, who will be recognized at the ceremony.

Relay for Life aims to raise $70,000 towards cancer research and treatment. Currently, with the efforts of numerous teams and individuals, Relay for Life has garnered more than $25,000.

Individuals may dedicate a luminaria in memory, honor or support of a cancer warrior or a caregiver and find more information about the event by visiting https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?pg=entry&fr_id=110116