Published: May 15, 2008 03:07 am      

Annual Relay for Life kicks off Friday

PALESTINE — It’s all about celebrating cancer survivors during the annual Anderson County Relay for Life event set Friday at Westwood ISD’s Panther Stadium.

Relay for Life, an overnight fund-raiser event for the American Cancer Society, is designed to spread awareness about cancer prevention, treatments and cures, to celebrate survivorship and to raise money for research to find more cures for cancer.

“Our survivors are the heart of Relay — they are why we Relay,” Relay for Life Survivors Chairman Ashley Mills said.

Before the Relay for Life event, which is held from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, a dinner for survivors and their caregivers will be held.

Registration will start at 5:30 p.m. for the survivor and caregiver dinner, which will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Shep’s Barbecue is catering the event with Brookshire’s providing dessert. The survivor dinner is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield and Texas First Title Company, LLC.

“Survivors who haven’t signed up yet are welcome to call us to sign up or they can come out Friday night and register,” Mills said.

Relay for Life will officially start at 7 p.m. on the football field with a ceremony for survivors.

“We will call out their names and give them each a medal,” Mills said, noting that at present 66 survivors are signed up to attend.

The survivors and their caregivers will then take the first Relay lap around the track.

“We want to encourage the public to get around the track and cheer them on,” Mills said.

Approximately 37 teams are signed up to participate in Relay for Life. Following the survivor lap, at least one team member must walk around the track during Relay until 7 a.m. Saturday.

“Each Relay team will have its own on-site fund-raisers with many selling a variety of foods,” Mill said.

The Relay for Life committee will have games scheduled throughout the night, as well as silent auction baskets and drawings.

A kid’s zone, sponsored by Dayspring Day Care Center, will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. for ages 3 to 16 for a cost of $10.

“There will be a lot of things for the kids to do over there,” Mills said.

A luminaria ceremony, sponsored by Palestine Regional Medical Center, will be held at 9 p.m. To purchase a luminaria and help light the way to a cure, call Sarah McDonald at 903-724-4178.

At midnight, a chocolate buffet will be held for the attendees. Casey Brown will serve as the deejay for the evening.

“The more the community gets involved, the more money we raise, the more we can fight cancer,” Mills said. “We want survivors to know that the American Cancer Society and Anderson County Relay for Life is here for them.

“The American Cancer Society offers a lot of programs and we want to get the word out about it to them.”

For more information about the survivor dinner or Relay for Life, contact survivor chair Ashley Mills at 903-922-2017, or survivor co-chairs Becky Chapman at 903-724-5617 or Misty Chumley at 936-355-7680.