Friday night the Relay for Life event kicked off with the opening ceremonies and a lap around Clinton County High School’s gym floor for cancer survivors as seen below. After the first several laps were completed, those in attendance stepped outside to the porch of the gymnasium and released their balloons as seen above.

The 2018-19 Clinton County Relay For Life event was held on Friday, April 19 from 4-9 p.m. at the Clinton County High School gymnasium with a theme of “Sporting For a Cure.”

The event was well attended despite the inclement weather outside.

The Celebrity Chef Cookin’ For a Cure was held from 5-7 p.m. with 10 teams participating. The public paid $5 per person to sample food and then vote for their favorite chef.

Teams participating included:

* Chris Moons, Clinton County School District Counselor, vanilla cheese cake;

* Gayle and Wilma Moons, Little Smokies with bacon;

* Brandon Pharis, Clinton County School District, chili;

* Ken Dearborn, CCHS, chili;

* Stacy Smith, Clinton County Extension Office, Hawaiian chicken and blackberry cream cheese pound cake;

* Junior Cecil, Clinton County 4-H Extension Agent, smoked bologna;

* James Cecil, CCHS student, smoked shoulder;

* Colby Guffey, Clinton County Extension Agent for Agriculture, BBQ chicken;

* Reed Sloan, Albany City Council member, tenderloin;

* Early Childhood Center faculty, orange fluff salad.

First place in the cook-off was Ken Dearborn representing CCHS with his chili.

The opening ceremony began at 6 p.m. with the JROTC Color Guard, Alumni Band and Bro. Bob Sawyer giving the opening prayer.

A total of 16 survivors were recognized and took the opening lap around the gym with the Alumni Band playing “Happy Birthday To You.” Caregivers then joined the survivors with survivors carrying blue balloons where they walked outside to release the balloons together.

Families of those who have lost the battle to cancer over the past year were then given white carnations and white balloons and they walked one lap in remembrance of their family member or friend.

Awards were given to the oldest cancer survivor and the longest living cancer survivor.

Sponsors of the event were then recognized. This year marks the highest goal of sponsorship. Over $7,000 was raised in sponsorship with 28 sponsors for the event.

Teams were then recognized and made a team walk around the gym. The eight teams that participated in the event were: Keystone Foods, LLC; The Medical Center-Albany; Clinton County High School; Roberts’ Pharmacy; Early Childhood Center; Clinton County Middle School; Albany Elementary School; and CCHS Cheerleaders.

Also set up at this year’s event was Dairy Queen of Albany and the Clinton County Public Library, with each of these booths giving away free items to the youth of Clinton County.

The Silent Auction was held throughout the night with many items to bid on. Other events included the always fun cake walk and the CCMS Choir performing many beautiful songs.

This year a table was set up in the middle of the gym floor with various items on it representing a person who has had or is currently battling cancer. Isabelle Moons read a poem entitled “The Empty Table” as it represented each item on the table.

The event ended with the lighting of the luminarias around 8:30 p.m. Names of cancer survivors, “In Honor Of” were read and names of loved ones who have lost their battle to cancer, “In Memory Of,” were read.

This year, lanterns could be purchased with a $25 donation to the American Cancer Society. Those lanterns were also set up on a table in the middle of the gym and those names attached to the lanterns were also read aloud.

This years goal of $45,000 was met and exceeded. At the end of the Relay event Friday night, a total of $53,555.09 had been raised with more money to come in over the next few weeks.

Last year (2017-18) a total of $48,432 was raised. Eight teams participated last year and 13 cancer survivors attended.

There were a total of 28 sponsors, which helped raise over $7,000 total. The following are those businesses and individuals who were sponsors for the 2018-19 Relay For Life:

The Medical Center-Albany; Junction Station; Page Electronics; Premier Storage; Davis Insurance Group; Albany Redi-Mix; Courtney’s Jewelry & Home; Roberts’ Pharmacy; Carol Peddcord; Kelly Latham; Clinton County Farm Bureau; Monticello Banking Company; First & Farmer’s National Bank; People’s Bank; Dyer Drug; Lisa Beard State Farm Insurance; Lay Simpson Furniture; Tracy Cross; Shearer Drug; Steven Tallent Dentistry; Keystone Foods; Hunter’s BBQ; Nathan Collins, Clinton County Clerk; Jake Staton, Clinton Circuit Clerk; Nathan Thrasher Lawn Care Service; Porco; Buckeye Medical; Albany Mayor Lyle Pierce.

This year has been a huge success, both meeting and exceeding all goals.

Thank you to all who supported the event and worked throughout the year to fund raise.

A special thank you to the teams, sponsors, our great county and community for another successful Relay.

Relay for Life Senior Community Development Manager Amanda Messer welcomed everyone during the opening ceremony to get the night’s events started.

Dairy Queen co-owner Patrick Padron helped several youngsters out at his booth on Friday night at the Relay for Life event. Clinton County exceeded its goal by more than $8,000 for the year.