This year’s Limestone County Relay For Life won’t be the same as it has been for the past two years.

After multiple years of virtual events due to the global pandemic, the Limestone County Relay For Life will be an in-person event, from 5-9 p.m., May 13, on Marion Street in Athens.

But the annual event, the signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society held across the nation, also will be missing a key and much-loved volunteer who lost his battle against cancer in April.

“With (District 3 councilman) Frank (Travis’) passing this year, that’s going to add another dimension to this because it’s so heartbreaking,” said Cherry Hammonds, senior development manager for American Cancer Society, on April 14. “You know, I was at over the Limestone (Relay) event when Jimmy Gill passed away (in 2016), and he was the councilman that Frank replaced. So you just sit there and it’s almost so poignant to think that it’s the Easter holiday time, and you know, you just, it’s just tough. It really, really, really is.”

Yet, Hammonds is quick to point out, Relay events are about hope, and that always has been the driving force of the Limestone County fundraiser.

This year’s event will carry on that theme, Hammonds said.

“Let me just tell you a little bit more about our event,” she said. “It is going to be Friday, May 13. But we’re going to have it from 5-9 p.m. down here on the Marion Street side of the Limestone County Courthouse. It’s a little earlier this year because we’re starting something different. We are going to incorporate our survivor dinner into our event. Typically, we do that on a Monday or Tuesday night, but this year we were so excited to be able to get together in person, and we wanted to plan on one big event so that our survivors can come and we can go straight into the survivor walk — that’ll be a lot of great energy for everybody to get motivated for one event. We’re going with one thing one time and going to make it big and beautiful.

“So, on that Friday the 13th, at 5 p.m., we’ll have all our survivors. They are being sent invites in the mail and they, and one guest, are invited.”

As far as the event itself, Hammonds described a carnival atmosphere.

“It’ll be really fun,” she said. “We have our teams that are going to be selling items or making suggested donations for items. We’ll have drinks and food, and it’ll be set up like almost a little festival. We’ll have tents and decorations.”

Beyond the fundraising and fun of the event itself, Hammonds noted that the foundation of Relay is always the walk for a cure.

“Our big thing is the walk. If you think about cancer, the pandemic didn’t stop it. Right? You know, the hours of the day don’t stop it and so that was kind of like the beginning of Relay for Life,” Hammonds said. “Years ago, a doctor up in Washington State had cancer and he’s like, ‘I want to do a walk and we’re gonna go 24/7 because it just doesn’t stop — and we’re gonna fight this.’

“In Limestone County, we’ve adjusted our hours. It’s a little more family-friendly, but we continue to do the walk, and it’s really something that the Athens community teams really embrace,” Hammonds said. “We’ll start off with our survivor walk. We also do a caregivers’. Then sometimes we’ll have our first responders. You know, we have the pink police car and the pink fire truck. The walk itself will start at 6 p.m. with ROTC from Athens High School presenting the colors. We’ll have the national anthem, and then we’ll start to walk. We do luminaries later.”

Luminaries, which are a dramatic and powerful symbol of the event’s goal — to eradicate cancer — are lined on the courthouse stairs and lit after dark, Hammonds said.

The fundraising goal for the Limestone event in 2022 is significant, but reachable, Hammonds said, with help large and small from the community.

“Our goal this year is $60,000, and we’re well on our way, but we can certainly use any at all. No donation is too small,” she said. “We typically are blessed with generous donors here in the Limestone County area. But the $5 donations add up really quickly — and I would never want anyone to feel that they have to make some over-the-top donation to be viable, because that’s just not the way it is.”

Dedications for luminaries can be made online or at the event. To make a dedication, otherwise donate or learn more about the Limestone County event, visit tinyurl.com/2p8tndwz.

In addition to research, Hammonds said, a large part of the work the American Cancer Society funds involves cancer prevention.

“Actually, right now (cancer rates indicate) one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer,” said Hammonds. “And while that sounds a little daunting, the positive thing is that it’s due to screenings. We have screenings available that we used to not have.

“Screening saves lives. Mammograms and colon screenings are two of the most easy ones that I can think of off the top of my head that are actually suggested at a younger age from what you might have traditionally thought.

“The pandemic has led to a lot of people, especially in 2020, who were told really not to go to the doctor. So people put things off, and once you put things off, it’s easier to put them off — so we really have a huge focus as far as getting people screened so you can catch cancer early, because that’s really the best way to fight cancer.”

Limestone County Relay for Life will hold its annual celebration on May 13, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Marion Street with a luminary ceremony and walks around the Courthouse. Everyone is invited.