By BILL POWELL

If you've ever watched a loved one battle cancer -- or worried about the disease yourself on a sleepless night -- the American Cancer Society is offering a chance to strike a personal blow against the dreaded killer.

The cancer society's Southern Oregon Chapter will sponsor its seventh annual Relay For Life from 6 p.m. May 8 to 9 a.m. May 9 at Raider Field at Southern Oregon University in Ashland.

Cancer survivor Tori Reynolds of Eagle Point is grand marshal of this year's event.

Organized in teams of eight to 12, relay participants take turns walking or running around the track relay-style during the 15-hour event.

Teammates, sponsored by businesses, hospitals, civic groups and families spend the night camped at team campsites around the field, enjoying entertainment, food, games and the camaraderie of joining in a great cause.

But the event isn't just a chance to exercise and visit. From 6 to midnight on Friday, May 8, five local doctors will be available in the education tent, answering questions about cancer prevention, treatment and cure.

And at 10 p.m., the candlelight ceremony provides a poignant and picturesque way to remember cancer victims and survivors when the lights in the stadium are dimmed as the track is lined with flickering candles inside luminary bags, each bearing a cancer warrior's name.

The public is welcome to take part in the whole event.

Last year, 70 teams at relays in Jackson and Josephine counties raised $100,000 for the Southern Oregon Chapter, says development director Mary Eklund.

This year, the chapter's goal is to raise $150,000, and Eklund says she's optimistic. With about five weeks to go before the relay, 70 teams have registered in Jackson County and 45 in Josephine for a total of 115.

Eklund says about 38 percent of the money raised by the relay directly benefits people right here in Southern Oregon, helping to pay for patient services such as transportation for cancer therapy, wheelchairs and other medical equipment, help with fitting prosthetic breasts and cancer education.

More than 40 percent helps fund cancer research at Oregon Health Sciences University and at other research centers in Oregon and around the nation.

The cancer society's work is critical if cancer is to be beaten. Just ask Reynolds.

Back in 1989, she was a seemingly healthy 29-year-old mother of four boys. The black cloud over her bright future came the day her doctor told her she had ovarian cancer. She'd had no symptoms, no history of cancer.

"Cancer was that disease that happens to others," she said.

Surgery and other treatments left her disease-free for two years. But the cancer returned.

Chemotherapy failed. In the fall of 1992, however, Reynolds was accepted for treatments with the experimental drug Taxol at the University of Washington.

The cancer society assisted Reynolds with transportation for the trips to Seattle every three weeks, and family and friends at White City Elementary also provided financial and emotional support.

The Taxol helped, but the cancer returned in 1996, leading to more surgery and chemotherapy.

Today, Reynolds is in remission, and has had nine years since her first diagnosis to be with her family and watch her boys grow up.

But the cloud remains, and events like the Relay for Life help Reynolds hold onto hope.

"With cancer, you can get so sick and so defeated. This is a real uplifting thing."

Form a team, help the cause

Want to put together a team to participate in this year's Relay for Life? It's easy.

Pick up a registration form from the American Cancer Society's Southern Oregon Chapter office, 31 W. Sixth St., in Medford, or call 779-6091.

Find eight to 12 like-minded friends, then line up a sponsor. Sponsors can be businesses, clubs, school, families -- just about anybody.

A sponsorship costs $100 and includes T-shirts, water bottles, health food bars and other goodies for each team member. Deadline to register is April 17.

Those who can't be part of a team can still be part of the event. For a donation of $5 or more, the cancer society will dedicate a luminaria in the name of a friend or loved one who has or has had cancer. The names will be read during the luminaria ceremony at 10 p.m. May 8.