Many events are taking place in Polk County during the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.

The City of Cedartown and Regions Bank are sponsoring the first annual benefit auction “A Celebration of Cancer Survivorship” on Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. at the Cherokee Country Club.

Hors d’oeuvres will be served during the auction. Tickets are available at City Hall and Regions Bank.

For further information contact Cheryl Owens, team captain at 770-748-3220.

On May 10, Kerri Lewis is coordinating a singing at Eastside Elementary School beginning at 6 p.m. The program will feature The Perrys.

Also appearing will be The Willing Vessels and Kerri Wright-Lewis.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Call 770-684-8150 for information.

The goal for Polk County’s 2003 Relay for Life is $100,000, according to Curtis and Sue Lewis, chairpersons for the past three years of this American Cancer Society fund-raiser.

“We want to thank everyone involved in the Polk County Relay as we look forward to a very successful 2003,” they said.

Some 50 Relay for Life Teams have been sponsoring fund-raisers leading up to the May 16-17 Relay for Life Walk at the Nathan Dean Sports Complex. Team events have included a pancake breakfast, yard sales, fish fry, barbecue, singings, a golf tournament and a beauty contest.

Teams may be sponsored by churches, business, government agencies, individuals and service organizations. Individual team members pay a $10 fee and then seek others to sponsor their walk.

On May 16, there will be a cancer survivor reception sponsored by the Atlanta Gas Light Company at 5:30 p.m. at the Nathan Dean Sports Complex. A survivor lap around the track will follow. There will then be a caregiver lap.

Entertainment and the parade of teams will start at 8 p.m. The walk then begins. At 10 p.m. a luminary service is scheduled, after which the walk resumes and continues all night. At 9 a.m. the walk stops. There will be a preliminary tally of money raised, and the team which raised the most money will be recognized. A short closing ceremony will be held.

Relay for Life, the “signature activity” of the American Cancer Society, gives everyone in the community a chance to participate in the fight against cancer.