by Madison V. Fisler
June 14, 2013. Around 2 p.m. this afternoon, teams began setting up for this year’s Watauga County Relay for Life at Watauga High School. Undeterred by the wind, teams were putting up tents, setting up signs and doing their last minute preparations for the long-awaited event.
“We do Relay rain or shine!” said Kathy Idol, co-chair of the event and captain of the Friends for Life team.
“Cancer survivors fight through everything, and so should we.”
The luminaria table is already set up, with names of survivors being placed on the bags to be set up on the bleachers. At 9:30 p.m. tonight, the luminaria will be lit, each displaying the name of a survivor, on the bleachers to spell out HOPE. Participants are welcome to keep purchasing luminaria up until 9 p.m. before the lighting ceremony.
So far, over 1,800 luminaria have been sold, said Jeannie Caviness, the captain of the Deerfield Dream Team.
“I’m so excited that so many people in the community come out to support us,” Caviness said.
More than 400 people are expected to attend the event, which is hoped to be the most successful Relay for Life to date.
For more information about tonight’s event, and for a full list of teams and complete schedule of events, please click here.