As organizers of the 2025 Relay For Life make plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Otter Tail County Relay, they are also looking for ways to make this year’s Relay new and exciting.  They also hope to get more and new people involved in this year’s Relay. In addition to the hopes that more people will attend the Relay, they’d love to have new teams and participants involved, and they’d love to honor more of the county’s cancer survivors at the event. 

  This year’s Relay For Life is Friday, July 11, in a new location: the East Otter Tail County Fairgrounds.  The evening starts up at 5:30 p.m, when attendees can play Bingo (5:30-6:30 p.m.), peruse the classic car show, get food from a number of campsites and food trucks, check out the silent auction, and enjoy strolling the luminary-lined walkway.  

The Opening Ceremony and Survivors Lap starts at 7:30 p.m., then there is additional time to enjoy food and fun before the Luminary Ceremony and Luminary lighting at 9:15 p.m.  It promises to be an inspirational and fun evening.  

Although July is coming faster than one would like, it is certainly not too late for people to get involved with this year’s Relay. There is ample time to start a new team or join an existing team. (Teams simply raise money through luminary sales, cash raffle ticket sales, or any other way they choose, then walk the team lap in the Opening Ceremony.)

Anyone interested in forming a team or joining a team should contact Emily Poulson, Team Coordinator, at (952) 210-8531.  It is also not too late for cancer survivors to contact the Relay leadership and ask for an invitation to the Cancer Survivors Dinner on July 10 or to get details on walking in the Survivors Lap at the Relay. Cancer Survivors can contact Survivors Chair Laurine Braukmann at (218) 457-1026. 

“Year By Year, We Are Closer to a Cure” is the theme of this year’s Relay For Life. The Relay celebration will focus on the thirty-year history of the Relay For Life of Otter Tail and on the advances made in the battle against cancer in these thirty years. At the birth of the Relay For Life of Otter Tail County thirty years ago, a mere nine teams took part, and $9,000 was raised. In 1995, the five-year survival rate for all cancers, combined, was 63 percent. 

In its 30 years, this Relay has grown to being one of the premiere Relay events in the state and has consistently raised over $100,000 a year for over a decade. Last year’s Relay event boasted 21 teams, celebrated 80 cancer survivors. and raised over $200,220 for cancer research, education, advocacy, and patient services. That five-year cancer survival rate? It is now 68 percent. People are closer to a cure—and Relay for Life participants are helping to fund that hope.