Smith named Relay ambassador
With just two weeks remaining until the annual Relay For Life in Scott County, four-year-old Anna Smith, of Oneida, has been named ambassador for the 12th annual event.
Anna is the daughter of Jackie and Renea Smith of Oneida, and was diagnosed with Wilms Tumor last year. Wilms, a cancer that attacks the kidneys, is typically found in children between three and 12 years of age.
As she prepares to be the face of the 2009 Relay For Life, Anna is coming off good news. After surgery last summer, followed by several months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, she and her parents learned in early March that her cancer had disappeared.
“Anna has been very strong and brave throughout this whole time,” Relay spokesperson Mary Fields said. “She is a very happy and beautiful four-year-old little girl, and Scott County Relay For Life is proud to have her as the 2009 Relay For Life ambassador.”
For 12 years, Scott County has ranked among the state’s best in per-capita fundraising in the American Cancer Society event, which raises funds for cancer research.
“With Anna’s story, we know that all the monies raised through Relay For Life is making a difference in the lives of cancer survivors,” Fields said.
This year’s Relay will once again be held at Oneida City Park, beginning at 10 a.m. on May 2. An opening ceremony will spearhead the event, followed by a survivors’ lap. Cancer survivors are honored guests at the event and are invited to attend a ceremony in their honor and to walk the opening lap.
“The lap symbolizes the courage survivors and their families display and sustain in their lives,” Fields said. “Each participant in the survivorship celebration will receive a medallion and t-shirt.”
Activities will continue throughout the day — from a Kiwanis Club breakfast at 8 a.m. until the event winds down at midnight. A luminary ceremony will be held at 9 p.m., with luminaries around the park’s walking track lit during a program to remember and honor those touched by cancer.
Major sponsors for the event include Armstrong Foundation, St. Mary’s of Scott County, Roark’s Pharmacy, First National Bank of Oneida, Highland Telephone Cooperative, Big South Fork Air Park, Tennessee Plateau Oncology, Town of Oneida, Scott County Government, Independent Herald, Scott County News, First Trust & Savings Bank, Jones & Son Funeral Home, West-Murley Funeral Home, Huntsville Memorial Funeral Home, Citizens First Bank, Tennier Industries, Circle of Life, Mountain People’s Health Council, WBNT and OCV Channel 4, WATE Channel 6, Highland Communications and Ameriprise Financial.
“Every participant and spectator knows that the Relay For Life is about love, it’s about hope and it’s about living a miracle and learning to cope,” Fields said. “It’s about being a community that takes up a fight. It’s about finding a cure for cancer, it’s Relay For Life.”