BERWICK – Margie Lamb was feeling grateful, happy, and a little apprehensive before the hockey game in Berwick Feb. 11 to raise funds for her Relay for Life team in memory of her husband, Jim.
Wearing a bright pink Meadowbrook Meat Market T-shirt, Lamb was approached by countless people heading to grab seats in the arena.
She was joined by friends and family members, including Jim’s sisters, Suzanne and Beverly, and could not believe the over 100 people that turned out to support the team. But there was still a heaviness to the day, as she and others remembered why they were there.
“Cancer is something that has touched everyone, whether you’ve had it, your loved one, a friend, or even an acquaintance. But Relay pulls people together, and seeing the community out like this is amazing,” she said.
Community comes together to help
The event, called Jim’s Babes and Bores, was held at the Kings Mutual Century Centre in Berwick, and saw several community organizations contribute, including Scotiabank, which provided volunteers, the Kings District RCMP, who put a hockey team together to challenge Meadowbrook, K-Rock, who donated air time for the event, and Leo Glavine, who played on the RCMP team.
The Meadowbrook team consisted of Lamb’s family and friends, and also people whom Lamb had never previously met – female and male hockey and ringette players joined forces for the event.
This struck her as particularly sweet.
“For people I’ve never even met to come out and help like this – well, that’s something else entirely,” she said.
“There are no words.”
‘Cancer has touched every person’
This is the event’s second year. Jim Lamb’s sister, Suzanne Spicer, has been involved with Relay for around ten years, getting involved through her work with mental health services at the Western Kings Memorial Health Centre in Berwick.
Four years later, her husband Beverley went through his own cancer journey. He survived, but many other family members and friends did not, according to Lamb.
“Cancer has certainly never been a friend to us, or anyone else, for that matter,” she said.
Spicer said the day was both a wonderful and hard one for her.
“It’s nice to see people here supporting Jim, but we know cancer has touched every person,” she said.
“It’s important we all join the fight and raise funds not just for research, but for education and also people who are going through it.”
