Chele's Stars

“Chocolate dipped pretzel sticks only $1.00” Eli Eggleston a warm hearted carrying and giving 10 year old boy walked around the track for hours at Relay for Life selling pretzel sticks for the Chele’s Stars Relay Team in memory of his mother, Michele Glotfelty Eggleston, who lost her battle to pancreatic cancer in 2009. Eli raised $105.00 in his classroom at Accident Elementary School, even though he gives all of the credit to his teacher who helped him. Eli told me that he is a lot like his mother “My dad says I’m like her because I start walking fast in front on him and then I will slow down, my mom used to do that, and I like chocolate she liked chocolate too. ” Also on the relay team was Eli younger and much quieter brother Ian who is 8 who walked around the track and played football with other members of the team including Michele’s husband Matt.


The Chele’s Stars Relay Team was headed up by Frostburg State Sophomore Whitney Glotfelty who is Michele’s niece. “We decided to sell the chocolate covered pretzels because she loved chocolate, around the time she was getting sick my mom toke chocolate ice cream over to here when she wasn’t feeling well. When she didn’t eat it and that’s when we knew something was really wrong.” I was lucky enough to be a part of this relay team as well as many family and friends of Michele’s.


One of the most touching and special parts of Relay of Life is the silent lap and when luminaries are lite, but in Friday night’s case half of the lights were shut off due to the wild frostburg winds. Walking with Whitney and other members of the team was a very special experience as we were all walking with Michele and our loved ones in our hearts as we completed the lap and headed back to the team tent all of Michele’s loved one remembered her and her sons shared some memories of their mother. Whitney left us with these words in a thank you letter, “I started this team in memory of a fantastic woman who fought the brave battle against cancer, my aunt Michele. Tonight, I know that she is thankful for each of us and that she will be smiling that beautiful smile as we circle the track, taking steps toward saving a life, even if it could not be her own. That Is just the type of person she was sweet, caring loving, with a heart of gold.”