“Relative Race” Fireside
Family history comes to life when BYUtv’s “Relative Race” Host and Season 3 Champion hosted a fireside at the Arlington Texas Stake Center. Ronda Jenkins from River Trails 1st Ward shares her experience attending the inspirational and fun meeting.
Walking into church one afternoon, the first thing that caught my attention was a flyer for BYUtv’s “Relative Race” fireside and I stopped in my tracks. I quickly took a picture of it and went to find my daughter who watches the show with me. I also texted my sister and niece that sometimes watch the show with us. My daughter and I were so excited and started counting down the weeks until the fireside.
BYUtv’s “Relative Race” is a fun and inspiring show that is a family favorite. The reality competition series, hosted by Dan Debenham, makes family history come to life. Four teams compete in a 10-day cross-country road trip to find their long-lost relatives and win a $50,000 grand prize. Every day the race is filled with twists, turns, and life-changing reunions.
Only one team can win, but each team gains something far more valuable than money: the knowledge of who they are and the joy of finding their family.
On the evening of May 1, we arrived at the Arlington Texas Stake Center and could feel the excitement in the air. With the number of missionaries in attendance, it seemed like a Fort Worth missionary conference. It was also fun to see former missionaries who had served in our congregation.
We could see “Relative Race” Host, Dan Debenham and Season 3 Champion, Rebecca Dalton chatting with people before the event commenced. The entire Fort Worth Texas mission presidency was also in attendance with their wives. After the opening prayer, President Chapman, the Mission President, conducted the meeting and started by introducing Dan and Rebecca. However, before either got up to speak, we listened to a musical number by two sister missionaries, an instrumental arrangement of the song, “Gethsemane.”
Dan then told a story from his childhood about how he became interested in becoming a television host as a career. His dad had showed him the Parade magazine with a picture of a news anchor on it and said, “This is what you need to do.” Dan didn’t realize what an anchor was, so he and his dad watched the news together. He was amazed they got paid to talk. Dan spoke of his schooling and how his career began with ESPN, which then led to him and his friend, Tom, to start the production company Lenzworks. BYUtv requested they create a show involving Ancestry.com and use the DNA approach to find family members. That’s how “Relative Race” began.
Dan wasn’t all talk. He presented a few clips from past seasons of “Relative Race.” The clips showed amazing moments when the contestants met family members they never thought they’d get a chance to meet. That’s what the show is all about, family connections… well, with a little competition mixed in.
Rebecca spoke next about her time on the show. She also related spiritual experiences she’d had with her biological mother who had previously passed away, making them extremely meaningful. One was seeing her mother in a dream, the other, feeling her mom's presence next to her in the temple. I felt honored that she would share those moments with such a large group.
Her life changed after being a contestant on Relative Race. Rebecca was not only the champion of her season, but is now a Unit Production General Manager for Lenzworks.
Relative Race Host, Dan Debenham
Season 3 Champion, Rebecca Dalton
The speakers gave time for a question-and-answer session after they spoke, which I loved. Some questions were funny or trivial about the workings of the show. Other questions were a bit more serious about help in finding family members. One young man who was of Chinese descent asked a question that led to further questions—would they ever produce the show outside of the United States of America? Dan mentioned four other countries had contacted them about this—one of them, China.
After the discussion, the meeting closed with a prayer. Then, an activity began using the FamilySearch app. There’s a tab on the app called Relatives Around Me. If others have the app open it will tell you if you’re related. I think mine scanned and found about 200 people that were distant relations of mine, even some of the missionaries.
Above, left to right: Ronda Jenkins, Dan Debenham—the host of Relative Race, Ronda's daughter Amy, and her son, Joseph. Photographer unknown.
During the FamilySearch activity, Dan and Rebecca took the time to meet and greet members of the audience. My daughter was up quickly after the prayer to head to the front of the chapel to meet both of them. We took a group picture with Dan and my daughter got a picture with Rebecca.
We arrived home around 10 p.m. and though we had to be up early the next day, we all agreed it was worth it. In all, it was a wonderful experience.