For life, family walks with the tigers.

Byline: TIM CHRISTIE The Register-Guard

WHEN ROBBY DORONGESEN was heading to the hospital for the first time for treatment of the cancer that eventually would kill him, a vice principal at Junction City High School gave him a stuffed tiger.

"When things get tough, remember, you're a tiger," Cindi Schweigert told him, in reference to the school mascot.

That first tiger led to another, then another and another. His family stopped counting at 25.

That ambush of tigers provided some comfort to Robby as he battled Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer that invades soft tissue, his parents said Friday.

"It was important to him that he had every one with him at the hospital," said his mother, Alene Dorongesen. "Tigers were part of his fighting spirit."

Robby died five years ago at age 17. But his memory, and his tigers, live on.

His parents, family and friends - 23 in all, from 2 years old to 65 - were at Hayward Field on Friday for the 11th annual Relay for Life, to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

They were easy to spot: They were the ones with the tiger ears and tiger tails and towing the red wagon crammed full of stuffed tigers.

Team Tiger was one 113 teams participating in the 24-hour event, a record number, team recruiter Jay Gano said.

Last year, 96 teams participated. When the event started, there were eight teams.

The number of teams is testament to the number of lives touched by cancer, as were the team names on team members' T-shirts. Friends of Diane. In Memory of Dawn Miller. Team Janice. Zach's Team. For Amanda. Hal's Team. John and Friends.

Walkers and runners circled the track as cloudy skies gave way to early afternoon sunshine. The Hayward Field infield was packed with tents and canopies, providing shelter and sustenance for team members.

Relay for Life began with a single event in Tacoma in 1985 and now takes place in 3,125 communities across the country, raising nearly

$732 million since its inception.

Robby walked in his first Relay for Life in 1996, walking four miles just two weeks after surgery, said Bob Dorongesen, his father.

He was still pretty weak, "but we couldn't talk him out of it," Bob said.

The next year, Robby organized the first Team Tiger, but he died three weeks before the relay.

The Dorongesens started walking in the relay in 1998. It's a highlight of their year, and an event they spend months preparing for. Their canopy was fully stocked with pop, water, chips, candy and nine feet of submarine sandwich, plus lawn chairs and various tiger regalia.

"It's the big event of the year, for all of us," said Ben Dorongesen of Philomath, Robby's brother.

When the relay ends at noon today, organizers hope to have raised $450,000, up from $430,000 last year. Proceeds go for local patient services and for cancer research and treatment innovations.

The Dorongesens raised about $3,000 this year for the American Cancer Society. Bob Dorongesen plans to keep on walking in memory of his son.

"Every time I hear about another kid who gets cancer, it makes me more determined to go out and raise more money, because that's the only way it's going to get taken care of," he said.

"Maybe I can keep another child from going through what mine did."

CAPTION(S):

NICOLE DeVITO / The Register-Guard Sporting tiger ears, tails and a wagon of stuffed tigers, family and friends of Robby Dorongesen - who died five years ago - were at Hayward Field on Friday for the 11th annual Relay for Life. (Left to right) Benjamin Dorongesen, Tara Dorongesen, Adam Neiwert and Bob Dorongesen, Robby's dad. "Tigers were part of his fighting spirit." ALENE DORONGESEN Junction City woman whose son, Robby, died of cancer "Tigers were part of his fighting spirit." - ALENE DORONGESEN, Junction City woman whose son, Robby, died of cancer