Relay For Life May 4

Published 12:00 pm Friday, May 3, 2019

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Butler County’s Relay For Life will feature a variety of activities as volunteers work to raise funds to knock out cancer.

The event begins at 2 p.m. and lasts until 10 p.m. Saturday at the Butler County Fairgrounds in Greenville, according to Gerri McGinnis, event lead for Butler County.

“We have an opening ceremony with an invocation, presentation of the flag by the ROTC and the National Anthem, which will be sung by Morgan Gibson,” McGinnis said. “We will then have the Survivor Walk and then the caregivers join in for a lap.”

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At Relay, there are numerous activities for attendees and teams to participate in, according to McGinnis.

“We have a Twister Rematch, which is exactly as it sounds,” she said. “It’s a giant game of Twister. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve got some people that have been winning off and on for a few years and that’s why we call it a rematch.”

The 2019 theme for Butler County Relay For Life is “Wishing for a Cure — Fairytales/Storybooks.”

“We have a campsite judging and we have 16 team registered,” McGinnis said. “Our goal for this year is $67,000. Last year our goal was $65,000 and we raised $67,000, so they left our goal at $67,000 this year.”

McGinnis explained the premise behind Relay.

“It’s called Relay For Life because we have the track out there and people walk it,” she said. “Cancer never sleeps — it never takes a break. There should be someone walking the track for the entire event. Someone will be on the track until 9 p.m.  and then we will have the luminaria ceremony. After that we will have team awards.”

Teams can receive wards for the Best Float, for a cook off, for performances in Relay’s Got Talent, which will be on stage, for a scavenger hunt, for Best Camp Site and a Cake Walk.

“We will also have a tent for our survivors,” McGinnis said. “We will have food and drinks under there for them.”

Relay Stars determine the Spirit of Relay award winner. Teams began earning starts at the kickoff meeting in February and continue through the event Saturday.