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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Samantha Skowren and her mother led the survivor lap on June 3 at the Austintown Relay for Life at Austintown Elementary School.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Team members dressed up as Snow White for the Disney themed Relay for Life at Austintown Elementary School on June 03.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Participants at the Austintown Relay for Life on June 3 learned Zumba from Daniel DelliQuadri, a Zumba instructor.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Survivors walked the survivor lap at Austintown Elementary School for the Relay for Life opening ceremony on June 3.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Survivors and participants gathered to spread cancer awareness at the Austintown Relay for Life on June 3 at Austintown Elementary School.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Special guest speaker, Samantha Skowron, spoke at the Austintown Relay for Life on June 3 about her experience with cancer and how she has dealt with it in her life.s
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
The Austintown community came together on June 3 to spread cancer awareness during the annual Relay for Life at Austintown Elementary School.
Kelly Phillips served as event chair and Amy Hughes, Charisse Smith and Julie Jones all served as co-chairs. The four worked together for an entire year planning and organizing the event. The committee went to AES the night prior to the event to start setting up and went again around 6:30 a.m. the day of Relay to finish everything.
The 12-hour event went from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., with various games and activities throughout the day.
The opening ceremony began with Kelly Phillips speaking on the Relay for Life and introducing the special guest speaker, Samantha Skowron.
When Skowron finished her speech, the Survivor Walk began with Skowron and her mother leading it. Cancer survivors and their families walked a lap and then inside to the cafeteria for a meal. The guests cheered the whole time the survivors and families made their walk around the parking lot.
There were 22 teams, and 15 on site, who took part in raising money and spreading awareness. The teams who set up on site made their tents all Disney movie related to follow along with this year’s Disney theme for Relay for Life.
“It’s a lot of fun. We fundraise all year. We did a quarter auction this year and a couple restaurant nights that were really successful,” said Hughes.
Several local business, such as Pizza Hut and Buffalo Wild Wings, helped sponsor the event. There was a Pizza Hut pizza eating contest along with a BW3 wing eating contest. There was also a lip sync battle, carnival games, a DJ and entertainment from various guests.
Relay for Life is a way to spread awareness and bring together survivors, families of survivors, families of those who didn’t make it and many others who want to show support. This year there were 320 people registered prior to the event, plus more who registered at the event.
“I started doing it because my grandmother died of lung cancer so it’s bittersweet for me. I do it because I don’t want someone else to feel what I felt,” said Hughes.
The committee will begin planning on June 4 for the 2018 Relay for Life and thinking of ways to make the event bigger and better.