More than 200 participants are expected Friday and Saturday at Allen County’s annual Relay For Life.
The overnight relay — a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society — will feature members from 13 teams (so far).
As in years past, participants will camp out on the courthouse lawn, while members of their teams will walk the square’s perimeter.
Each team will have at least one representative walking during all 12 hours of the relay; some hearty walkers will do the full excursion themselves.
In addition, food, games and other activities are designed to provide entertainment and build camaraderie.
The opening ceremony will kick off at 6 p.m. Friday, followed immediately by the survivors’ and caregivers’ lap to start the relay. Survivors will don special shirts for the occasion.
Luminaries will line the sidewalk and be lighted at about 9:15, to remember loved ones lost to cancer, support those still afflicted and honor those who fought the disease in the past.
THE RELAY For Life got its origins in Tacoma, Wash., in 1985, when Dr. Gordy Klatt walked and ran for 24 hours around a local track as an ACS fundraiser.
A year later, hundreds of supporters joined him.
Since then, the Relay For Life movement has raised nearly $5 billion, according to an ACS press release.
