The Wagner Cancer Walk held its 17th annual event at the Wagner Lake this past Saturday, August 10th at 7 p.m. This year’s event had 17 cancer survivors in attendance with their friends and family as well as families and friends who had lost someone this past year to cancer. The Wagner Cancer Walk honored 15 individuals who had passed away this past year. This year’s event started out with a free-will donation meal where volunteers served 150 people, raising $1,000 for the organization. All parts of the meal were donated by various generous members of the local community. There were also many generous donations from individuals’ families and community businesses.

After the meal, there was a slide show presentation put together honoring those that had passed this year by Kyle and Jamie Tjeerdsma. This was followed by Pastor Rydel Samuelson leading the group in prayer. He then led the group in their one lap around Wagner Lake. Ice cream was then served while Kara Hanan and Cody Krug entertained the crowd with their musical talents. Right around dusk families of those who had departed lit Chinese lanterns in their loved one’s honor while the survivors lit big sparklers. The night ended with a beautiful fireworks display donated by the Justin Bouza family in honor of his mother, Missy. One of the special things that the organization does in honor of those that have passed is to have a garden flag made in each person’s memory which at the end of the evening is given to their family. It was a beautiful evening honoring those that have battled, are still battling cancer as well as those our community has lost. The Wagner City crew did an amazing job of making sure that the Wagner Lake area was in tip-top shape for the event, and the organizers of the Wagner Cancer Walk would like to thank them and acknowledge their hard work. Thank you to the organizers of the walk as well as the Wagner community members that made this such a memorable night.