The 2008 Relay for Live event was held at the Franklin County High School track field on Friday night.
The 2008 Franklin County Relay for Life was held at the Franklin County High School track field on Friday, June 27 at 6:00 PM. But before it could get started, the event was hit with a huge thunderstorm. High winds and heavy rain upset displays, turned over port-a-johns and blew one tent completely away. Two men went looking for it after the storm but came back empty handed. Damage such as this would normally end a group's plans to participate in most events. But since this is Relay for Life, shear determination pushed groups to go beyond their normal limits. One such group was Country Kids Childcare Center. Chris Cundiff said, "All I had to do is place one call to the boss and we had another tent in twenty minutes". Donna Gilbert with Franks Growers had a similar story as she sat in the open air after their tent was lost. Donna said that her sister, Frances Gilbert, was already on her way to get another one.
The event started a little late due to the storm. Event staff was working at a furious pace to get everything set up as quickly as possible. The setup of the audio equipment on the stage could not be completed until the storm had passed. They too did an excellent job to get everything ready so the start of the event did not have to be delayed any longer than necessary.
The secondary event activity that drew the largest crowd during the evening was the auction. It ran for about an hour and the bidding was strong throughout. Floyd Anderson, of Anderson Tractor, provided auctioneer services for the event. Following the auction, the main event took place with the lighting of the Luminaries. It was truly touching when the crowd gathered around the track field near their luminaries chanting, "We want a cure". A lone bagpipe player slowly circled the track field playing his bagpipes while participants reflected on their family and friends that were represented by name on the luminaries; some in honor and others in memory. Josh Cokendolpher, from Faith Fellowship Church, delivered a deep and touching address of hope and perseverance.
Nine hours into the event, as 3:00 AM approached, we had been treated to three live bands, a cross dress for charity, and Elvis. Kids were still playing in the ball pit and a steady stream of walkers was still on the track. I took notice that more vendors and teams had decided to stay for the entire night than in previous years.
At 6:00 AM, the official numbers showed that 100 participants had spent the night. $132,000 was raised and all were recognized for the work that they had done to make this a successful fundraiser. One young man, Miles, walked nonstop all night totaling 53 miles for his mother.
When I talked with Robin Minter, local American Cancer Society representative, she was filled with praise for all of the work that had gone into making this a successful event and for all of those that had put in so much time and effort. Additionally, she was very appreciative of the money that was raised to further the research that is necessary in order to defeat this terrible disease that is called cancer.
The photo gallery for this event has been posted:
Set 1 - Set 2 - Set 3 - Set 4 - Set 5 - Set 6 - Set 7 - Set 8 - Set 9 - Set 10 - Set 11 - Set 12
