ANNUAL FUND-RAISER Relay for Life features more than walking

The chickens were so popular last year, organizers decided to bring them back.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Hot dogs, children's games and frozen chickens.
Those are just a few of the elements that combine to make the annual Lordstown Relay for Life a successful event.
The relay, set for 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. Saturday at the Lordstown High School track, features a host of other activities aside from just walking.
Relay for Life events are held each year throughout the country, with teams of participants walking or running their way through a course or track throughout a 24-hour period. Walkers take pledges for each mile covered, and money raised is donated to the American Cancer Society.
"But there's a lot more for people to do and see even if they don't want to walk," explained Judy Hall, Lordstown's clerk of council and one of the event organizers. "People think they can only come if they are walking, and that's not the case."
Other events
Hall and Councilman William Dray, another relay organizer, said there are children's games, theme baskets to be raffled, a talent contest and much more.
In fact, Dray said, one of last year's most popular events is set to return.
"Have you ever seen someone bowling with frozen chickens?" he asks.
Participants can pay to hurl a frozen chicken down a lane toward a set of bowling pins, he said. When frozen-chicken bowling debuted last year, it was an unqualified success, prompting organizers to make sure it was on the list of things to do this year.
"It was one of our biggest events last year," Dray said.
Anyone interested in walking for a team in the Lordstown Relay for Life can still register by calling Dray at (330) 824-2046.
Relay for Life started in 1985 in Tacoma, Wash., and was the brainchild of Dr. Gordon Klatt, an ACS volunteer. Each year, teams of 10 or more participants take turns walking or running a course throughout a 24-hour period, earning pledged donations for each mile covered.
Since its inception, Relay for Life has grown to more than 3,800 events throughout the country, with 190 of them in Ohio. The Lordstown Relay is one of about a dozen such events in the Mahoning Valley.
slshaulis@vindy.com