Southampton - When Diane Nicholson, the American Cancer Society community executive for the East End of Long Island, approached Southampton Youth Services Executive Director Scott Johnson about hosting an event, Sharon Wood, SYS marketing director, promptly volunteered to carry the torch. Wood has lost five family members - her grandmother, mother, mother-in-law, surrogate mother and grandfather - to five different types of cancer.

Event chair Sharon Wood briefs the audience on the goals of the inaugural Relay For Life in Southampton.

"I feel like this was sent to me," Wood said. "There's a reason for everything. Cancer shows no mercy. Everyone here has been affected by cancer in some way."

Southampton Town Recreation Center hosted the Relay For Life Kick-off Banquet Thursday evening to usher in the first ever event on the South Fork. The inaugural Relay For Life, a 12-hour parade through the night around the SYS track, is set for Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25.

An opening ceremony followed by a survivors lap, as is tradition at Relays, will begin the festivities at 6 p.m on April 24.

"The survivors are the rock stars," Wood said. "We want to celebrate the fact that they survived, whether it's one month, one year or 10 years. Sometimes people forget. We're just here to keep that going and to keep the cure coming."

A runner from each team is on the track, however it's divided up time-wise, until the Fight Back Ceremony in the Relay's final hour, from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. on the April 25. All along, the track will be framed by hundreds of luminary bags, which will blaze the names of someone who has battled cancer.

The American Cancer Society's crusade: Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back.

The overnight set-up signifies the continual fight that those stricken with cancer undergo, and the endless need for fundraising and support for the ACS' programs and services. "Cancer never sleeps," Nicholson said, "and we won't either until we find a cure."

Relays are helping the ACS work toward its 2015 goals of lowering the numbers of individuals dying of cancer by half, reducing the occurrence by 25 percent and improving the quality of life of all those affected by the disease.

Wood is hoping to enroll at least 50 teams, each made up of 8 to 15 participants. The teams are required to meet a baseline of $1,000 raised, although the committee "would love to set the bar quite a lot higher than that," Wood said. Before last night's gala, four groups had signed up, with many more expected by night's end and in the event's aftermath.

"This event inspires people and gives them an idea of what [the Relay] is going to be like," Wood said. "There's a DJ, a band, food - it's a big celebration."

Unlike most Relays, the South Fork edition won't be subject to whatever, like the longstanding races in Riverhead, Southold and Center Moriches. Riverhead traditionally fields 60 to 80 teams, and according to Nicholson raises more than $100,000 annually.

At the kick-off, Wood spoke briefly about the goals of the ACS and Relay For Life before introducing members of the South Fork Relay committee. A video that encapsulated the significance of the event for its past participants was shown. Nicholson preached the Society's message - celebrate, remember, fight back - to the crowd of 150-200 who attended the event, including New York Assemblyman Fred Thiele and Southampton Mayor Mark Epley. Wood then shared her story, as did Maria Metzger, a Southampton High School science teacher who is a breast cancer survivor, having received her last dose of chemotherapy on Oct. 31.

A crowd of 150 to 200 residents, young and young at heart, were on hand to learn more about the first edition of the Relay For Life.

Relay began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colonrectal surgeon in Tacoma, WA, ran for 24 hours at the University of Puget Sound to show support for his patients who had battled cancer. Over the course of the day, he ran 83 miles and raised $27,000 from friends who ran alongside Klatt in 30-minute time slots. A year later, the first Relay event involved 19 teams. According to Nicholson, the South Fork Relay is the 22nd in Suffolk County and part of a movement that includes 5,200 such events worldwide. "This is a great tribute to Gordy Klatt," Nicholson said.

To learn more about the South Fork Relay For Life, visit www.relayforlife.org/southforkny.

The South Fork Relay For Life Committee is already hard at work trying to sign up teams for the inaugural event to be held at the Rec Center in April.