Washita County’s Relay for Life event has been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, at the Cordell park. The event, typically held in the early summer, was moved into September to ease scheduling conflicts and help increase participation.
“We’re not lost; we’re still here,” said organizer Mary Cook.
This year’s Relay event will look much different from the traditional 24-hour team walk. This year, Cook said, they’re trying to spur more participation by involving the entire community in what she called a “giant block party.”
The event will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a survivors’ dinner at the United Methodist Church in Cordell. Survivors and caretakers are invited to the dinner.
The festivities at the park begin at 6:00 p.m. with teams walking until 10:00 p.m. During the opening ceremony, scheduled for 6:00 p.m., organizers will recognize local survivors, who will open the walk.
During the walk, there will be food trucks and vendors on-site. There will also be activities for kids, including a chalk art contest, train rides, and a bounce house. Organizers are hoping to also put together a volleyball tournament, but that is still tentative. There will be a DJ playing music through the entire event.
The festivities will break at around 9:00 p.m., Cook said, for a special memorial ceremony for those who’ve succumbed to cancer. Luminaries will be lit in honor of those who’ve been lost.
During the event two trips to Red River will be given away. One trip will be raffled off and one, reserved for a cancer survivor, will be drawn. The raffle tickets are being sold for $20 each.
Cook said Relay is currently recruiting sponsors, donors, and participants for the event. “We want to get this back to what it was in its heyday,” she said. “We used to have 15-20 teams participating. Right now, we have two. We’d really like to see the community get more involved in Relay for Life. We’re asking people to help with the cause, one penny at a time.”
For more information or to donate or volunteer, Mary Cook can be reached at 580.715.144 or by email at marybftag@yahoo.com.
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