May 11, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Caring people from throughout this community gathered at Green Brook Park Friday evening to support the fundraising efforts of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life so that one day friends and loved ones will no longer have to hear the words “you have cancer.”
(Jerry Cantrell with children Anna and Dawson beg for bail to help raise money for Relay for Life after being locked up Friday at Green Brook Park)
(Chief Deputy Robert Patrick of the DeKalb Sheriff’s Department gets dunked to help raise money for Relay for Life)
(Cancer survivors took center stage to give a personal testimony)
M2U02986 from dwayne page on Vimeo.
(Cancer survivors take the first lap around the walking trail at Green Brook Park during Friday’s Relay for Life)
This year’s Relay for Life was the 22nd annual for DeKalb County and with funds already raised and still more to come in, organizers expect to collect in excess of $40,000. “That will go a long way in funding research. We are very thankful to everybody who had a part in this,” said Iva Dell Randolph, Chairman of the Relay Leadership Team.
“We are really pleased and we appreciate our community and our county so very much. We’ve had people from all over our county here tonight and that is what it is all about. That we come together as a group to show support for our cancer survivors and to remember those who have gone on,” said Randolph.
The evening began with entertainment by Kathy Goodwin and then the presentation of Colors by Boy Scout Troop #347 with Suzanne Slager performing the National Anthem. Local minister Don Rigsby gave the invocation and Renea Cantrell, a member of the Relay Leadership Team welcomed the crowd along with Ms. Randolph.
Cancer survivors in attendance then took center stage to give a personal testimony including Grady Prichard, Norma Scott, Hattie Nickens, Era Billings, Rita Robinson, Dean Griffey, Marlene Delong, Renee Saunder, Jackie Cantrell, Gail Taylor, Kenneth Ray, Martha Melching, Debbie Knowles, Beth Adcock, Loretta Adcock, Wilma Cantrell, Guylene Atnip, Margie Smith, Nancy Cassity, Chizuko Howard, Roy Pugh, Carl Lee Webb, W.J. White, Joyce Boyd, Bonnie Rigsby, and Don Rigsby.
Bonnie Rigsby closed out the opening ceremony with a special song honoring cancer survivors after a special prayer for them.
The cancer survivors then took a lap around the walking trail at Green Book Park bearing their “Survivors Celebrating Life” banner to kick off the event.
Center stage entertainment featured Vonda and Wanda-the Sunshine Singers,Tina Boston, Fluty and Friends, David Turner and Friends, the Duke and Miller Families, Kevin Roberts as Elvis, and Axel Rico and the DeKalb County Ramblers.
The Relay also included lots of food, games, and other fun activities in the park for kids and grown ups alike including a jail for bail and a dunking booth.
Luminaria bags lined the walking track and a group of tiki torches in the park were lit in honor and remembrance of cancer survivors and others claimed by the disease.