DIXFIELD — The second annual Dani Ranger Memorial 5K run/walk will be held at 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at the Dixfield Fire Department.

Ranger passed away Oct. 16, 2011, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

Ranger was a junior at Dirigo High School in Dixfield. She was a member of the field hockey team and a junior firefighter of the Dixfield Fire Department.

“She just wanted to start giving back a little to the community,” her cousin, Fire Department Capt. Jason Hyde, said. “She was with us for almost exactly a year before she passed away in 2011.”

A year after passing away, Ranger’s mother, Tammy Ranger, came up with the idea for a memorial 5K that would help “keep Dani’s memory alive.”

“Tammy was the one who said she wanted to do something, but she was still upset when the time came to organize it,” Hyde said. “A lot of us here at Dixfield Fire stepped up and helped set it up with her.”

Tammy Ranger said she created the Dani Ranger Memorial 5K in 2012 because “with Dani gone, it’s up to me to keep her memory alive and in people’s minds.

“We always did the Dempsey 5K together, and she would volunteer wherever she could,” Ranger said. “She was always into that kind of stuff. She always was a go-getter and doing whatever she could to help the community. The money that we raised at that first memorial 5K went to two local food pantries and to local families who need help around the holidays.”

All money raised at Sunday’s race will go toward helping families who may be in need of assistance during the holidays, Ranger said.

“The money is coming from people in town. It just makes sense to put the money toward something local,” Hyde said.

The first Dani Ranger Memorial 5K run/walk was “an absolute success,” according to Hyde, with more than 125 people signed up.

For the second year in a row, Tammy Ranger and members of the Dixfield Fire Department will be giving shirts to participants in the 5K. They will have “Dani Ranger Memorial 5K” written on the front. The shirts are orange with purple lettering, Dani’s favorite colors.

“Last year, we had the shirts made, with ‘We Run for Dani’ printed on the back and the phrase ‘Bring it!’ printed underneath it,” Ranger said. “’Bring it’ was one of Dani’s favorite phrases.”

The 5K will begin at the Dixfield Fire Department and continue down Main Street. One section of the 5K will take runners through wooded trails that Dani Ranger traversed when she was on the Dirigo field hockey team. The run ends on Weld Street.

“I thought having runners go through the trails that Dani ran on would make it more personal,” Ranger said.

Registration will be from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. race day.

“We encourage people to show up on the day of the race and participate,” Hyde said. “Last year, we were expecting a certain amount and a lot of extra people showed up. It’s definitely encouraged.”

Tammy Ranger said she hopes the memorial 5K will continue to grow each year.

“Dani always wanted to give back, and with the 5K, we’re remembering Dani and what she did for her community,” Ranger said.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

Editor’s note: The previous version of the story listed the wrong date for the run. It is being held the 20th. The information was submitted incorrectly to the Sun Journal.

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