Final Relay for Life brings in over $70,000

The final Dodge County Relay for Life raised over $70,000 last Friday night, according to a Sunday Facebook post from the event committee.
Friday’s event included a survivor’s reception, lighting of the Flame of Hope, the survivors victory lap, the team parade, entertainment, silent auction and bingo. The evening ended with the Luminary Program and walk, led by bagpipers Dr. Thistle and Dr. Driscoll from Rochester and Honorary Survivor Courtney (Clark) Palenhonki.
Palenhonki is originally from Kasson and is a 2004 graduate of Kasson-Mantorville High School. She currently lives in Chaska with her husband, Joe, and four-year-old daughter, Sadie. During the opening program, she explained that when Sadie was just eight weeks old, she went in for a post-partum exam, and her doctor found a lump and thought it might be due to breastfeeding. She returned to the doctor three weeks later, and it was still there so a mammogram and ultrasound were ordered and later, biopsies.
In January 2021, she was notified she had HER2+ invasive ductal carcinoma, which had metastasized to the lymph nodes. She began six rounds of chemotherapy treatments over the course of four months and continued to receive two chemotherapy medications via port infusion every three weeks for a full year.
Palenhonki underwent bilateral mastectomies, and two days after the surgery, on June 18, 2021, her doctor called to inform her there were no traces of cancer found in the breast tissue and lymph nodes. Exactly five months from when she was diagnosed, she said, she learned she was cancer-free.
In its 33 years of existence, the local relay, known as the Dodge County Stroll, has raised over $3.4 million.
Relay organizers said this is the last year for a formal relay. Over the next six months, the committee will be talking about the options and what can be done to stay in the fight against cancer.
The decision to end the event was made because the number of teams and participants has been down in recent years.