2007 Wilkes Relay for Life kicks off this Friday at 7 p.m.
By KIP BURKE, news editor

Last year's Relay for Life opened with the inspiring Survivors' Lap .

Teams will be setting up camp first thing Friday for the 2007 Wilkes County Relay for Life, organizers say, and tending to a thousand details for the all-night fund raiser set to start Friday evening at 7.

Participants in the activities can enter the Washington Wilkes Parks and Recreation facility from either the usual Lexington Road entrance, or from the Whitehall Street gate. General parking will be both in front of the W-W Parks and Recreation Department building and the area behind the building. Access to the Relay will be down the steps by the skybox.

Handicap parking will be near the main gate to the football field. Signs will designate the area.

Camp Relay, the overnight camping area, will be marked off in the grassy area between the skybox and the old school building.

An RV and camper site will be set up at the lower end of the football field, outside the Relay gate, backing up to the Third Shiloh Building.
  All teams are requested to follow these guidelines:
   Teams can set up camp all day, Friday.
   After unloading gear/supplies, all vehicles must
be moved to the parking area.
   Teams must make arrangements for your own trash
receptacles for your team tent, especially if you are
serving food;
      Team sites must be broken down no later than noon

on Saturday.
   ABSOLUTELY NO alcohol, smoking, pets, skateboards
          or bicycles. No unaccompanied children under
18 are allowed.
  "Come and have fun eating, playing, walking, and
celebrating life!" said honorary co-chairman Cathy Lannae.

The event begins with a Survivors Lap around the track, Lannae said, followed by a lap by caretakers, and then team members will start their relay. "Someone from each team walks each hour all night long until 7 Saturday morning."

Master of Ceremonies for the all-night Relay will be First Baptist Church Minister of Students Chris Townsend. "We'll have games and activities for the whole family to raise both money and awareness," he said. "we'll have dance demonstrations, a Moonwalk, a cancer trivia contest, a scavenger hunt, music from Bragg & Hughes, and a special entertainer from Atlanta who will do shows at 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. And we're working on more entertainment."

The 9 p.m. luminary ceremony will celebrate lives of those dealing with cancer and those lost to cancer, Lannae said, with candles, a musical celebration and a ceremonial walk around track. Luminaria are available at the Relay.

During the all-night event, participants be able to choose from local groups offering hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, grilled chicken sandwiches, pasta, peanuts, ice cream, baked goods, peach cobbler, chili, Krispy Kreme donuts, blooming onions, funnel cakes, popcorn, egg rolls, chicken fingers, peanut brittle, Aussie chips, and for those still up, sausage biscuits and coffee at 5 a.m.

With 25 teams and 40 corporate sponsors, the Wilkes County Relay has already raised half of its 2007 goal of $35,000 to fight cancer.

For weeks now, local teams have held yard sales, bake sales, pancake suppers, and other events to raise funds for the annual event.

Local teams for the 2007 Relay For Life include: BiLo, Cancer Knockouts-Marcie Simpson Family, Episcopal Church of the Mediator, Eric Pagan, DDS, First Baptist Church, First Methodist Church- Youth Group, Georgia Peaches & Peanuts, Glit-Microtron, Ingles, JUMP, Key Club, Little River Methodist's Aloha Team, Pliant Corp., Springfield Baptist Church, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Twin Oak Baptist Church, Washington Church of God, Washington Dance Academy's Happy Feet, Washington Police Department, Washington Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Wilkes County Senior Citizens, Wilkes Health Care Center, Wills Memorial Hospital, W-W Animal Shelter, and W-W Elementary School.

Sponsors for the 2007 Relay include Wills Memorial Hospital as the Platinum sponsor; with Gold sponsors including: The Fitzpatrick Hotel, the Blakey Family, Twin Oak Baptist Church, and Barnett Southern Corp.

Silver sponsors include: Badcock and More Home Furniture, Bee Southern, Bumper to Bumper of Washington, CSRA Home Health Agency, Episcopal Church of the Mediator, Denard and Moore Construction, Stan & Elizabeth Coe Family, Fareway Building Supply, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Farmers State Bank, Fievet's Pharmacy, Griggs-Ficklen Insurance Co., Glit- Microtron, LaCabana Mexican restaurant, Lannae Construction, McDonalds, Petal Pushers, Rayle EMC, Regions Bank, Savannah Valley Rehab, Scarborough's Inc., Sim Dill Contractor, Springfield Baptist Church, Tena's Jewelry and Gifts, the Olmstead Family, Washington Tire and Auto, Wilkes Co. Cattlemen's Association, Wilkes Health Care Center, Wilkes Telephone and Electric, and Wood Specialty Co.

Providing in-kind corporate sponsorship are: Washington-Wilkes Parks & Recreation Department, WXKT-WLOV Radio, and The News-Reporter.

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