Walks for causes get weekend moving
Published 6:21 pm Thursday, September 14, 2017
The Second Annual Childhood Cancer Awareness Walk will start Saturday at Sweetland Amphitheatre at 8 a.m.
Event Organizer Angela Fanning Copeland said she wanted to raise awareness for childhood cancer in Troup County after her son, Camryn, died from brain cancer in 2012.
“I lost my son to cancer and I just want to do something to bring awareness. Too many kids in our area have died of cancer,” Copeland said.
Copeland said she knew of other parents in the county who have had children fight cancer.
“[There’s] just a lot of kids in Troup County that have passed from cancer. Some of them were teenagers, some of them were small kids, like my son,” she said.
Copeland said she hopes that in future, the currently free walk could raise money for families who have a child suffering from cancer.
“What I want to do is maybe grow big enough to donate to the local families in Troup County that need help,” she said. “You can’t work and try to cure your baby. If it wasn’t for the community coming together to help me, I don’t know what I would have done.”
The walk will last for three laps. It starts at the amphitheater on Church Street, turns on to Lafayette Parkway by the square and then to Ridley Avenue, Copeland said.
“We say a prayer before we walk and then we walk,” she said.
Copeland said about 50 people walked last year.
“This year so many people have said they are coming, so I’m thinking we may have a hundred or more,” she said.
Those who plan to walk are encouraged to wear clothing and jewelry that are gold, the ribbon color that signals childhood cancer.
“We just ask everybody to wear something gold or yellow, if you know a child who is fighting or has survived cancer,” she said.
While not all families affected may come, Copeland said those who do walk in spirit for those who cannot.
“This walk is for every child who has passed away and who is fighting,” she said. “When you’re fighting cancer or have survived cancer, even if they can’t come out and walk, just know that we’re walking for them, we’re doing what our babies can’t do and we’re walking for them.”
The free Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held at Vernon Woods Retirement Home Saturday. Registration is at 8 a.m. while the ceremony is at 9 a.m. The walk begins at 9:30 a.m.
If you’re more in the mood for art, the Lagrange Art Museum will host Super Saturday, a free family art day at the museum from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The museum will also host a four-week hand building in clay course for six to 12-year-old children starting Saturday. Classes are $70 for members and $75 for non-members.
If you would rather go dancing, the Active Life Center will hold a country dance Saturday at 7 p.m. The event will feature Jimmy Smith and the New River Band and costs $6 an adult.
On Sunday, Okaside Baptist Church will host Christian Apologist Ben Schettler at 9:45 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. The church is located at 1921 Hamilton Road in LaGrange.