BY CHRISTINE LEE

POTTSVILLE — A year after its cancellation, Relay for Life will again be held for participants to walk to raise money toward fighting cancer.

The 2021 event, set for 4 to 10 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Pottsville Area High School, will officially kick off at 5 p.m. with 14-year-old Ella Grace Frantz, an incoming freshman at Nativity BVM High School, singing the national anthem and the flag being presented by the Schuylkill County Frontier Girls.

The opening lap around the track will take place after the ceremony.

A survivors ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m., with prayers, a moment of silence, poem reading and the recognition of volunteers. Each survivor will walk a lap around the track afterward.

Pine Grove resident Abby Zimmerman, a physician assistant who practices at Lehigh Valley Health Network’s cancer center in Pottsville, will be the keynote speaker at the ceremony.

Each cancer survivor will receive a T-shirt, goodie bag, Begonia flower and a bead for each year they have survived the disease, while caregivers will receive a yellow beaded necklace.

Luminaria, paper bags with messages written on them, will be lit at 9 p.m., with a slideshow of submitted photos of cancer survivors projected on a screen.

Entertainment will be provided by Spotlight Kidz from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and Artists in Motion of Schuylkill Haven from 7:45 to 8:15 p.m. Also featured will be a photo booth for survivors and a Zumba class courtesy of Diakon Community Services, with Eileen Tarconish instructing.

CACL Federal Credit Union of Pottsville and Evans Network of Companies in Schuylkill Haven will sponsor the tents, while Walmart will donate wraps and a drink, and C&C Candies of Friedensburg will give each survivor a cookie.

Throughout the evening, participants will walk around the stadium track, while vendors will have tables set up and baskets will be raffled off. DJ Matt Uroskie will provide music.

Pottsville Mayor James T. Muldowney, the Schuylkill County commissioners and Pottsville Area School District administrators and board members have been invited.

Organized by the American Cancer Society, Relay for Life is the organization’s signature event to raise money toward cancer research and improving cancer patients’ quality of life.

Mary Jane MacLaughlin, the event’s co-chair and survivor chairperson, said that even before the event begins Friday, the community is showing its support, raising more than $26,000 as of Monday. She expects more will be raised.

At the 2019 Relay for Life, $74,959 was raised, exceeding the $65,000 goal. MacLaughlin said with the uncertainty around this year’s event, no fundraising goal was set.

Despite 2020’s relay being canceled amid the pandemic, she said more than $20,000 was raised from events that were canceled and luminaria sales. The luminaria purchased last year will be used at this year’s event.

“People are very giving,” MacLaughlin said.

Organizers kept the 2020 theme, “Carnival of Hope” for this year, with themed games and crafts being offered at Friday’s event.

She said that while organizers were initially unsure about holding it this year with the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing, it feels awesome for the live event to return.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eased guidance for those vaccinated against COVID-19 and the state’s mask order being lifted in June convinced organizers it was safe to take place.

Despite the eased restrictions, MacLaughlin said, precautions are still in place. All activities are taking place outside and face masks will be available.

“We’re happy to do a live event this year,” she said. “The survivors enjoy it.”

Registration is still open and available the day of the event.

As of Monday, MacLaughlin said that more than 60 cancer survivors and eight teams had pre-registered.

With no kickoff event this year, she said that Friday’s relay will be “a big party for everyone.”

Contact the writer: clee@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6028