Relay for Life fall festival to take place on Oct. 20

Fort Scott, Kan. -- Bourbon County Relay for Life planners are getting in the spirit of the fall season with the first big fund raising event of the organization's 2008 campaign; the Relay for Life Fall Festival.

The organization's planning committee met recently to discuss details of the upcoming festival, which will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20 at 2478 Limestone Rd., the home of Bourbon County Relay for Life Co-chairwoman Lavetta Simmons.

The festival will feature a variety of games and activities for people of all ages, including a face painting booth, wagon rides, a hay maze, a pumpkin patch, and a bake sale, according to Marilyn Landers, the publicity chairwoman for the relay campaign and cancer survivor.

"I think it will be a fun event for the whole family," Landers said.

Joy O'Neal, a long-time Relay for Life participant and breast cancer survivor, will serve as the greeter for the event, Landers said.

Tickets will be sold for attendees to enjoy an array of food and beverages that will be available, including hot dogs, chips, caramel apples, popcorn balls, funnel cakes, soft drinks and Frito pies. Guests may purchase tickets for 50 cents each, Landers said.

Guests will also be able to take a walk through a pumpkin patch, participate in a pumpkin painting and decorating activity, and purchase a host of food items available at the bake sale. Attendees will also have the opportunity to have his or her face painted by volunteers and relay committee members.

Planned games for youngsters and even adults include a Needle in a Haystack activity, a hay maze, wagon rides and horseback rides around Simmons' farm.

Local photographer Bethany Thompson will be present during the festival to take photographs of attendees that may also be purchased, Landers said.

All of the proceeds from the festival will benefit the 2008 Bourbon County Relay for Life campaign that is following a "Sporting a Cure" theme, in which committee and team members will follow a sports-related theme during the organization's seven-month fund raising campaign by dressing in attire and creating decorations at events related to sports.

The Relay for Life is considered to be the premier fund raising event for the American Cancer Society, an agency that works to find a cure for cancer through education, advocacy and other services.

The Bourbon County Relay for Life campaign concludes each year in June with an all-night walk around the track at Frary Field near Fort Scott High School.

The committee is currently trying to recruit 50 teams that will attempt to raise $75,000 by next year for the ACS and its services.

Committee members will soon be designing 10 large pumpkin signs that will be used as markers pointing the way to Simmons' house, which is located about one mile east of Fort Scott on U.S. Highway 54.