RELAY FOR LIFE
Age means nothing to cancer. It doesn't care if you are a football player at Elkmont High or a golf coach at Athens High. It is a common denominator that unites us all, whether we have fought it or have relatives and friends who have survived or lost their battle.
Rhett Bailey, the football player, and Don Bowling, the golf coach, are among our community's survivors. It is for survivors like Bailey and Bowling and others in the community that the City of Athens is participating in Relay for Life.
Bailey and Bowling spoke at the countywide Relay for Life kickoff about how cancer research has given them a chance to be cancer survivors instead of cancer victims. The City of Athens is raising money for the American Cancer Society to help increase survivor rates. The city is holding a fishing tournament and other activities to raise those funds.
The City of Athens Bass Fishing Tournament will be April 7 at Ingalls Harbor on the Tennessee River in Decatur.
Pre-registration is $100 per boat. The cost to register at the event is $125 per boat. There is a $4,500 guaranteed payout, thanks to our sponsors, Athens Electric Department, Athens Gas Department, Speegle, Hughes Gas Piping, Jerry King Co., and UPI.
The payouts will be $1,500 for first place; $1,000 for second; $750 for third; $500 for fourth; and $250 for fifth. There also will be door prizes.
To pre-register, contact Anna Leigh Ball or Heather Rouse at 256-232-1440 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 Monday through Friday. On the day of the event, registration will start at 4:30 a.m. and end at 6 a.m.
Entry forms and rules are available on the city’s website at www.athensal.us and at Athens Utilities on Wilkinson Street and West End Outdoors at 17171 U.S. 72 West.
The tournament will begin at daybreak, around 6:30 a.m., and will last until 2 p.m.
The Limestone Lunkers Fishing Club is donating a weigh trailer, and its members will operate the weigh station and serve as master of ceremonies. Gas Department employees will grill hamburgers and hotdogs and will have them for sale during the tournament.
“Relay for Life is an excellent way for our employees to give back to the community,” Mayor Ronnie Marks said. “Our employees have been impacted by cancer as well as the community, and I appreciate our employees for giving their time to fundraise for Relay.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, men and women in Alabama have a higher mortality rate for the various forms of cancer than the national average. The top three deadliest cancers in the state are lung/bronchus, prostate and breast cancer.
Since 1998, the city has had a Relay for Life team every year except for one year, Human Resources Director Sharon Seay said. Last year’s team raised more than $7,000.
The Limestone County area has been generous in helping those with cancer, especially the community’s children, such as Logan Baugher, Noah Crowe, Sasha Dison and Sydney Newton. Citizens follow the children’s progress on Facebook and attend fundraising events to help the families.
“The city is offering another opportunity for the community to continue helping their fight and the fight of so many others,” said City of Athens spokeswoman, Holly Hollman.
Other Relay for Life fundraisers are:
• Southern Belle T-shirts, purple with a black,
white and green design that says, “Cancer isn’t
contagious but a fighting spirit is.” The shirts
are $20 for long or short sleeve. To place an
order, call Cindy Pugh at 256-233-8708 between 8
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• Cellphone recycling. Bring unused cellphones to City Hall on the second floor of Athens Utilities at 1806 Wilkinson St. The city receives a donation to Relay for each phone recycled. See Human Resources.
• The annual Celebrity Waiters Night where local leaders wait tables for tips is being planned.
Holly Hollman
Grant coordinator/communications specialist
256-262-1399
hhollman@athensal.us
P.O. Box 1089
Athens, AL 35611
Feb. 2, 2012