Weekend fundraisers to fight cancer, abuse
Two annual (and popular) local fundraisers will be renewed this weekend in Oneida.
Tomorrow (Friday), Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte will be in town for the annual Nancy Swain Watters Memorial Walk, an effort to raise funds for the Children’s Center of the Cumberlands. On Saturday, the focus will shift to Oneida City Park, where the annual Relay For Life will kick off at 10 a.m.
Tomorrow’s walk — which is also begins Andrea Walks V, part of the First Lady’s trek across Tennessee to benefit child advocacy centers and increase awareness about child abuse — will begin at 9 a.m. with a short opening ceremony at the Oneida Municipal Services Building.
“The support that the Scott County community provides the Children’s Center of the Cumberlands is crucial for this organization to help children who are victims of sexual and severe physical abuse,” Conte said. “It is fitting that this walk is at the close of Child Abuse Awareness Month to educate families about these services and the issue of child abuse in Tennessee.”
Since launching Andrea Walks in 2004, Conte has walked more than 600 miles between all the child advocacy centers across the state, raising approximately $1.4 million in cash and in-kind donations.
After departing Oneida city hall, walkers will trek south along U.S. Hwy. 27.
Saturday’s event begins with a survivors ceremony at 10 a.m., with activities continuing throughout the day. A luminary ceremony will be held at 9:30 p.m. to remember and honor those who have battled cancer.
Entertainment begins at noon Saturday at the City Park’s ampitheatre, and includes appearances by the Boys & Girls Club Dancers, Standing Stone, The Chitwood Family, Word of God Ministries, Royal Blood, Huntsville Bell Choir and more, concluding with the finale of Scott County Idol, the American Idol spinoff organized by St. Mary’s of Scott County. The luminary ceremony will feature special singing by Elizabeth Carroll and by 2009 Relay ambassador Anna Smith.
Relay organizers are dedicating the 2009 Relay For Life to Vivian Smith, described by Relay spokesperson Mary Fields as “the Relay’s biggest crusader for cancer research.
“We are saddened by the loss of her,” Fields said. “Relay For Life has lost a very special person.”