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Mayor Rick Chambers and Relay for Life Event Coordinator Samantha Sims
The Starke County Relay for Life is this Friday and Saturday at the Starke County Fairgrounds in Hamlet. Opening ceremonies are at 6 p.m., the luminaria ceremony is around 9:30 p.m. Friday night and several fundraisers are planned throughout the event. Several teams have signed up to help in the fight against cancer.
In a prelude to the event, several businesses are decorating their store fronts in everything purple to help support the cause and spread the word about Relay for Life. Event Coordinator Samantha Sims said the winner of the competition will get bragging rights. She added that it’s great to get business support in helping the fight against cancer.
The winner will be announced at the relay event next weekend.
Megan Hamand “fires up the troops” for a successful event.
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Starke County kicked off their event on Thursday as volunteers and participants gathered at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Knox to launch their fundraising efforts for the year.
Although there’s more than six months left to go before the Relay event, it’s still the perfect time to get involved, and more than 80 people did as the event boasted a terrific turnout. Attendees received information about the different ways to get involved in Relay and witnessed a moving Luminaria Ceremony honoring cancer survivors and remember those lost to the disease.
Megan Hamand
In just two weeks, Relay for Life will host their Kick Off Event to jump start the Relay season. Megan Hamand of Key Bank said the event aims not only to kick off the start of the season, but also to give information to anyone interested.
Hamand explained the kickoff event features a number of important ceremonies like Luminaria, and this year they will focus on honoring cancer survivors and caregivers.
Demotte State Bank Team Captain Candice Miller
The Starke County Relay for Life fundraiser held at the Haunted Cornmaze in Knox this weekend was quite the success, according to Demotte State Bank Team Leader Candice Miller. She explained that the team raised $285 for Relay, including one $50 donation from a Walkerton resident.
Demotte State Bank Team Captain Candice Miller
With the Starke County Relay for Life January kickoff quickly approaching, teams are prepping fundraisers to raise community awareness and money for the American Cancer Society. This year’s Relay theme is “Colors of Cancer,” and Demotte State Bank has chosen the color yellow to represent Sarcoma, and their first fundraiser, according to Team Captain Candice Miller, is sure to be frightfully fun: the team is sponsoring two days of the three-day Haunted Cornmaze attraction in Knox with the help of Sonya and Melvin Fisher.
Though the event doesn’t start until June, teams are already raising funds for the upcoming Relay for Life event, featuring this year’s theme of “Colors of Cancer.” Meghan Hamand of Relay said they always start planning the following year’s event as soon as possible because it takes a significant amount of time to prepare for such an event.
Last year, Relay for Life raised over $60,000, and this year they aim to top that. With a steep goal of $65,000, Hamand said they really need all the time they can get.
Fundraising is already underway for next year’s Relay for Life event with this year’s theme of “Colors of Cancer.”
Meghan Hamand of Relay for Life said each team will display a different color representing a form of cancer – pink, for example, to represent breast cancer – in all different shapes, sizes and forms, and each will also provide information about their particular type of cancer. Hamand said her team chose gold to represent childhood cancer, and they will be taking it “to the extreme,” with plans to embellish their team like the Olympics with gold medals and other decorations.
Megan Hamand
The annual Starke County Relay for Life event begins today with opening ceremonies at 6 p.m. at the Starke County Fairgrounds in Hamlet. Event Chairperson Megan Hamand says there are a number of activities planned for the event.
“We’ve got games for kids, food, a car show, bands will be performing, including Narrow Gate and Konundrum, an American Red Cross blood drive, a food drive for Community Services of Starke County, and then we’ve got our regular relay events that you’ve learned to expect from us every year,” said Hamand.
Hamand says that two activities in particular are popular at the event.
“The Survivor Lap where we really honor and celebrate our survivors, and our solemn Luminaria ceremony which takes time to remember and honor those who that have fought cancer and those who have unfortunately lost their lives to it,” said Hamand.
A Cruise-In For A Cure event is planned for Friday, June 8. Rhonda Noah of Key Bank says this is the first time they’ve hosted a show like this, and they’re proud to welcome cars, trucks, motorcycles, and all other types of vehicles to compete in the cruise-in. A $15 donation is required per vehicle, and all proceeds from the event will go directly to the Starke County Relay For Life.
Cancer survivors will judge the cars and pick a top three, and Noah says they’re hopeful this event brings in some new faces.
A new Mint Festival Queen will be crowned Sunday evening at 6 p.m. at the North Judson-San Pierre Cafetorium.
Kersting’s Cycle Center Train Adventure Ride will take place at noon today, with the group ride leaving the center followed by a one-hour scenic country motorcycle ride, followed by lunch and a 45-minute train ride. The cost is $15 per rider, and that includes the motorcycle ride, lunch, and the train ride.
There will also be a Relay for Life of Starke County Fishing Tournament from 6 a.m. until 12 p.m. CT at Bass Lake. There is an entry fee and prizes will be awarded. All proceeds will go to the Starke County Relay for Life on June 8 and 9.
Things may soon be looking a bit purple in Knox, thanks to the Paint the Town Purple effort for Relay for Life.
Megan Hamand of Key Bank says that supporters will be hanging posters, putting up yard signs, tying purple ribbons around various items in the city, and they will encourage local businesses to show their support for Relay with a window decorating contest. Hamand says she will begin passing out flyers to storefront businesses next week informing them of a competition.
The goal of the competition is for local businesses to decorate their storefronts in purple and encourage visitors to donate money for Relay. Community members can “vote” for the best-decorated business by making a donation to Relay For Life in the business’s donation canister, and whichever business raises the most funds will receive six months of free advertising through Main Street Computers in Knox.
Hamand says she feels local businesses will participate in the event because the community has always shown such a high level of support for the Relay For Life organization.
“I just think that Relay for Life is such a community-wide event. I think everybody really embraces it, so it’s kind of fun to drive through the week before Relay and see the entire town purple and just get a feel. Especially if you’re battling cancer, or if you’re a cancer survivor, just to see that the whole community is behind you, that’s kind of a cool thing,” said Hamand.
The event will take place from May 28 to June 1, with the Relay to take place on June 8.
“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!” That advice will come in handy at the Inaugural Starke County Dodgeball Tournament, hosted by the Knox High School football team. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Relay for Life Foundation.
Brady Jones of the high school organized the event, and he told WKVI that he chose to benefit the Relay for Life Foundation to give back to the community with the help of the Knox football team.
At their meeting Tuesday night, the Hamlet Town Board members learned that the storm water improvement project is almost complete. Paving will be done this week on Starke Street, Pearl Street, and Davis Street and the project should be done. Work has been ongoing to extend storm drains along those roads to alleviate a standing water issue in the old downtown area in Hamlet. The project came in under budget and the Board was able to use the extra funds, plus $15,000, to pave the roads after the drainage equipment was installed.
