COAL TOWNSHIP - Teams and individuals will gather Friday to raise money for the American Cancer Society during the annual Relay for Life event for the Shamokin area at Kemp Memorial Stadium.
The event will run from 10 a.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday. The theme for this year's event is "Masquerade - There is no hiding our Fight for a Cure."
While the event will being at 10 a.m. the opening lap ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Friday with Angelica Masser singing the national anthem. There will be a special message from state Rep. Kurt Masser.
The ceremony to honor survivors and caregivers will be at 6 p.m. Friday with a special message from this year's honorary chairperson, Linda Reed, and her caregiver, Earl Reed. Following the survivors' lap, there will be a special dinner for survivors and caregivers.
At 9 p.m., the luminaria ceremony, one of the most touching moments of the entire event, will take place. As lights dim through the stadium, the only beams come by candlelight from bags placed around the track that honor and remember those that have fought the disease.
Saturday's events include a new attraction, a butterfly release, at 9:30 a.m. Registration for the release begins at 9 a.m.
Closing ceremonies and the relay's last lap will be at 9:55 a.m. Saturday.
A new club will be formed at this year's Relay for Life, the Catherine Reed 100 Lap Club. In recent years, Reed, a woman in her 80s, has come to the event to walk 100 laps around the track, a distance of 25 miles, in memory of her husband and in honor of her son.
The event will also feature performances by singers Cheyenne Popwczak, Jill Britton and Sean Khanna.
A complete schedule of events is as follows:
Friday
10 a.m. - Relay begins.
2 p.m. - Live broadcast by 94KX.
4 p.m. - Survivor registration begins.
5 p.m. - Opening lap.
5:30 p.m. - National Anthem sung by Angelica Masser. Invocation being given, and inspirational message given by State Rep. Kurt Masser.
6 p.m. - Survivor celebration. Survivors and caregivers make lap around the track. Dinner follows for survivors and caregivers. Message from honorary survivor Linda Reed.
To be determined - Performances by Cheyenne Popwczak, Jill Britton and Sean Khanna.
9 p.m. - Luminaria/PowerPoint presentation.
Saturday
9 a.m. - Butterfly registration/pickup.
9:30 a.m. - Butterfly release.
9:55 a.m. - Closing ceremony/last lap.