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MADRID The Stu-Man Crew will march tonight in Ogdensburg.
When an estimated 600 people on 35 teams take to the track at Ogdensburg Free Academy at 6 p.m. for the annual all-night Relay for Life walk to raise funds to fight cancer, the family and friends of Stuart W. Barkley, 30 strong and known as the Stu-Man Crew, will be there.
Were gonna try, said Robin L. Barkley, team leader, co-owner of the Ole Smokehouse and sister-in-law of Mr. Barkley, who died in February after a nine-year battle with brain cancer.
He was 48.
Mrs. Barkley recalls her brother-in-law as a man who wouldnt at all mind what is being done in his memory tonight.
No, I think hed be pretty happy about it, she said.
If that is true, then Mr. Barkley would have been over the moon at the Ole Smokehouse a few months ago. On March 31, a party was held in his memory and to raise funds for Relay for Life. Special teams wore period costumes - the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and the hippie era. Heads were shaved for donations.
And in the middle of all this fun, money was raised. A total of $1,900, to be exact.
I just thought it was a good way to keep the family together, Mrs. Barkley said. We can do this in his memory.
Mrs. Barkley said the Stu-Man Crew has already raised about $2,000 in pledges going into tonights walk at OFA.
Mr. Barkleys survivors will be among the walkers tonight. They include his wife, Dawn, son Michael, 31, and daughters Megan, 27, Lindsay, 23, and Logan, 16.
Mr. Barkley is also survived by his parents, Wendell D. and Jean M. Barkley, of Norwood, and two grandchildren.