Kicking cancer Stover style: local families band together to support one of their own

By: 
Robert Maharry

Stacey Stover doesn’t have time for negativity, even as a second go round with cancer stares her straight in the face: after all, she’s got three children to raise and a host of goals left to achieve.
           
“I have a huge faith in God. He’s the ultimate healer,” she said. “But we’re going to do everything we can to have me stick around, watch the kids in their sports and do all of those things.”
           
By now, the routine is painfully familiar to Conrad area residents: one of their own is facing another bout with the worst disease known to man, and there is no known cure. But fortunately, they’re stepping up to the plate. A free will donation meal, silent auction, koozie sale and tool raffle at RJ’s Lounge for Stover and her family on Saturday night raised over $10,000, and Stacey, a BCLUW graduate and Conrad native, can’t even begin to describe how much it means to her.
           
“It’s just amazing how our community just rallies together. There’s just no other community like it,” she said. “I just feel like the community wraps their arms around you.”          
           
Longtime friends Ruth and Dustin Peterson helped to organize the event, and they were floored by the turnout. Ruth has known Stacey and her husband Kurt, who began dating in high school, since childhood, and she mentioned her in the same breath as former Conrad Chamber/Main Street Director Darla Ubben, who passed away last month from cancer at age 46.
           
“There are certain people that are foundational, that exude positivity and make people better. Darla was one of those people, and Stacey is one of those people,” Peterson said. “Foundations need a little extra support, and that’s when we all pull together to make it happen.”
 
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