It’s been said it takes a village to raise a child.

By the same token, it takes a whole community to fight against a common enemy—in this case, cancer.

That’s why it was so wonderful to see the large turn-out for the 7th annual American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay For Life at the fairgrounds this weekend.

30 teams from across the county, representing schools, churches, businesses and communities, ,all came together to celebrate life and continue the fight for a cure.

While attendance and team numbers were down slightly, the show of support was still incredibly impressive for a county with a population of no more than approximately 23,000 people.

Visitors representing ACS from Birmingham were &uot;amazed&uot; at the size of the crowds on Friday night.

&uot;They told me they were absolutely blown away by the number of people out here, compared to Relays in places far larger than us,&uot; said Joan Reynolds, ACS Chair for the Butler County Unit.

Some of the most outstanding performers both team-wise and individually were young people from the county.

We applaud Greenville High School’s Jessica Johnson

being both the top student fund-raiser and the top individual fund-raiser with h personal total of $1300. Several school teams were among the top fundraising teams this year.

Citizens of all ages, races and backgrounds worked in one capacity or another, without pay, to make this event possible.

We can be proud of our efforts and our community spirit here in Butler County.