Entering this week, I carry a sense of resounding hope. This hope is inspired by the many ways our community is partnering together to lift up important causes and celebrate diversity. May this hope be contagious in your hearts.
I hope you consider attending this year’s Relay for Life of Thurston County or subscribing to Masterworks Choral Ensemble (MCE) next season after reading the review of their “Women Rock” concert last weekend.
For 40 years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has hosted free Relay for Life events throughout the nation. Each event inspires survivors, caregivers, and caring community members to partner together in fundraising for the cure and standing in solidarity against cancer.
Relay for Life is like an onion with its many layers, emotional capacities and functions, and is accessible to every single member of the community: young, old, and with a variety of needs, including wheelchair access and sensory recovery.
The Relay for Life of Thurston County event takes place at North Thurston High School on Saturday, June 21, 2025, and Sunday, June 22, 2025.
Courtesy of Relay for Life of Thurston County
I have personally participated in Relay for Life for many years, including as a survivor and team captain, yet it wasn’t until my conversation with Thurston County Relay leadership Nichole Woolsey and Karen Waddington that I discovered all the potential that lies on the track.
Woolsey reminded me that this is such a wonderful event for families because it is safe, there are fun and free things to do, listen to, taste and see. Relay for Life offers food trucks and a variety of fun games and performances throughout the event.
Attending this event not only supports cancer patients, but local companies who give martial arts, cheer and dance demonstrations. I am personally looking forward to seeing the Michael Jackson performer — a creative young man who uses his craft to emote his passion for the cause.
Additionally, Relay for Life is an opportunity to teach children about a really hard subject that they will have to interact with one day. Cancer rates are increasing in all age populations, and every single person has some connection to cancer in some way whether it is intimately or distantly. Knowing this information, we have a choice: we can deny the facts, or we can do whatever is in our power to make a positive difference.
Relay for Life offers many opportunities to make a positive difference: you could walk the track in honor of someone, create a luminaria, fundraise or donate to cancer research, or even say kind things to a survivor or caregiver you see on the track.
Your presence at an event like this makes a positive difference because it shows that you care and no one is alone in their fight. As a survivor, Waddington reminded me, this event provides an opportunity for local survivors to build connections with one another and find someone who understands the survivor experience.
The word “hope” is featured prominently in every Relay for Life event, and it is the whole point of why anyone relays. We want to see cancer cured, we want our loved ones to win the fight, and us survivors need events like this to fuel us with hope to keep fighting every day.
Hope is the best medicine anyone could have, and even if you are not intimately involved in the cancer world, this hope belongs to you too. Waddington described how walking on the track is an “electric experience” and how “you leave differently than you came.” I cannot imagine a better way to spend a Saturday, can you?
I will see you on the track! Find out more here.
Every song performed by MCE was spectacular and empowering. The talent and dedication displayed was superb; I wish I had an MCE foam finger. The program contained only songs by women songwriters, and it was a real education to see just how important and influential women songwriters are to the world of music.
I was brought to tears by the performance from the Young Music Competition winner, Lara Choi. Choi is in seventh grade, yet can play three different instruments at such an advanced level that she could be in the Seattle Symphony. Her performance of Amy Beach’s “Romance for Violin and Piano Op. 23” earned a standing ovation and loud cheers from the audience.
Lara Choi, the winner of last year's Young Music Competition, as seen performing at the Women in Rock event at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
Rachel Benton | For The JOLT News
This concert made me smile, cry and remember the songs that gave me hope throughout many seasons of my life. I applaud Artistic Director & Conductor Ben Luedcke and MCE for the empowering and joyful energy they maintained throughout this concert.
To learn more about MCE and subscribe, click here.
Rachel Benton is a columnist, freelance writer, performing arts enthusiast and a Thurston County local. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in History and Political Science and minor in Music. When not writing or enjoying the arts, Rachel can be found spending time with her family, friends and two golden retriever puppies (Elliot and Ernie).
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