A small change in the form of a big tent should bring more people to a survivors dinner during Saturdays annual Allen County Relay for Life event downtown.
The 30 by 60 foot tent on the courthouse square is the new site for the dinner, event leader Denise Smith said. The previous location, at Calvary United Methodist Church at Jackson and Walnut streets, required participants to leave the site of events on the downtown square.
The time of the dinner also changes, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Morans Lloyd Houk will provide music during the dinner.
Relay for Life raises money for the American Cancer Society and increases awareness of cancer and preventative screenings. The event brings teams to walk the sidewalks on the south side of the square, with games, the dinner, music, a benefit auction, a ceremony to recognize survivors with a survivor-caregiver walk and the annual luminaria ceremony, featuring lighted candles in honor or in memory of those afflicted with cancer.
The event begins at noon Saturday and continues until midnight.
This years theme, Colors for a Cure, offers a chance for teams to show their creativity as well as their support for cancer awareness. Teams will decorate their tents according to the color of a ribbon to symbolize a type of cancer, like pink to recognize breast cancer.
Smiths family team, Heart and Sole, plans to decorate their tent in gold, the color of a ribbon to recognize childhood cancer. Smiths son, Jacob, died at age 14 in 2014 from neuroblastoma.
Im looking forward to seeing all the creative teams and what theyre going to do, Smith said.
Eight teams have signed up to participate in this years event.
A special recognition also will be on display to honor Saundra Upshaw, who died just before last years event. Smith considered Upshaw the luminary queen for her ability to sell the most luminaries and her willingness to help the event in numerous ways.
The time of the live auction is another slight change from last year, again in a quest to attract more people. The auction begins at 5:45 p.m. and features a variety of hand-crafted items like wood shelves; yard ornaments made from horseshoes; a red, white and blue wreath and more.
At 7:15 p.m., a welcome ceremony kicks off the survivor-caregiver walk followed by the luminaria ceremony at 9:15 p.m. The closing ceremony starts at 11:30 p.m.
This is the second year the event starts during the day and ends at night; previous events began at night and ended in the wee hours of the morning. The change proved very popular with attendees, Smith said.
The day went very fast last year. We quit early because of rain, but the forecast for this Saturday looks sunny and warm, she said.
Luminaries remain for sale and will be sold during the event.
For more information, contact Smith at 620-496-5488.
