Community Spotlight: Relay for Life Kickoff Party [VIDEO]

The first ever Relay for Life in the Smyrna-Vinings area is kicking off this weekend. Find out how you can participate and help fight cancer.

This week's Cobb, Douglas and Paulding Weekend & Community Spotlight features the Relay for Life Vinings-Smyrna Kickoff Party. The kickoff event will be held this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Hyatt Place Atlanta/Cobb Galleria. The actual Relay for Life event will be held in May at The Lovett School in Vinings. To sign up, start a team, or donate, visit http://RelayForLife.org/ViningsSmyrnaGA. For more information, check out this Facebook page, send a tweet to @ForBirthdays, or contact Amy Haygood at Amy.Haygood@cancer.org.

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Andrea Sneiderman Sued; Lawyer Robbed; Triple Shocker; Relay Walks On

Here's your Northeast Cobb PatchCast for May 21.

For more on these stories, click on the following links:

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Mom About Town

There’s No Place Like HOPE

That’s my new favorite phrase from Relay for Life.

As always, I think back to when I was a kid, and I wonder if my parents protected me from the strong need for HOPE or if there wasn't a huge need for it. It was the ’80s, and everything was fabulous as far as I knew. I don't recall hearing about cancer on every street corner. The economy seemed fine (not that I had learned about it yet). Everyone appeared healthy and happy. Nowadays just being at school there are fundraisers and awareness days for everything from schools less fortunate to save the Earth campaigns to cancer research. In my opinion children need to realize as well that there is HOPE for surviving in this world that seems to be overtaken by desperation and sadness.  Last Friday night was Relay for Life of Cobb County at Jim …

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Cobb County Relay for Life 2012

More than 200 teams gathered at Jim Miller Park for one of the biggest cancer fundraisers in the nation.

Thousands of people in more than 200 team gathered Friday at Jim Miller Park for the Relay for Life of Cobb County, the annual all-night celebration of life and the fight against cancer. The official count on the Relay website is $606,426 raised by 2,998 people in 208 teams, but the dollar total for the American Cancer Society could rise after the 12 hours of fun and fundraising from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. today. And you still can donate at the Relay site. Last year's Cobb Relay raised more than $636,000. You can read more about Relay for Life efforts on Northeast Cobb Patch, and Mom About Town columnist Katie Barrentine has chronicled her reasons to Relay:

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Lassiter Battle of the Bands

Ready to rock for a good cause?

Lassiter High School's Interact Club is sponsoring Battle of the Bands on Saturday from 7 p.m.–10 p.m. to benefit Relay for Life. The event celebrates the lives of people who have battled cancer and are fighting against the disease. Five bands will be performing before judges for prizes. Students from several schools are competing.  Presale tickets are $7 available today at Lassiter during all lunch periods. You can also purchase tickets on Lassiter website up to 3 p.m. today. Ticket purchased at the door are $10.  The event will be held in the school gymnasium located at 2600 Shallowford Road in Northeast Cobb. If you cannot attend the event, but would like to make your tax deductible donation, go directly to the Relay For Life website. …

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Mom About Town

A Family's Year With Cancer

The family dynamic is a very interesting thing in the course of tragic news.

It was a year ago last February that my mom heard, "you need an oncologist.” What a crap day that was. Our family is pretty tight. We seem to all have different ways of dealing with crap news. My husband Philip, our two boys and I live with my parents. Talk about adding a whole new stress to the mix. Philip and I were about to sign our life away on a house when mom was diagnosed with cancer. Not knowing what to expect and how long mom had, my family chose to stay headquartered at Ground Zero. Little did we know that mom was going to breeze through the cancer ordeal. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but she has set the bar pretty high for the rest of us. We were all certain that life as we knew it would be turned upside-down, inside-out …

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Pam J

2:47 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012

Thank you Julia. My father passed away last Friday. We had moved him into a hospice on Thursday. He was asleep and just quit breathing on Friday. My mom, my brother and I were there, and it helped that we saw that he didn't have any pain at the end. Just took his last breath. It was a rough two weeks, so we all feel like we've been beat up, but things will get better.   more ›

Viewfinder: McCleskey Middle's McWalk

The school's McWalk to Lasso a Cure raised funds and awareness for Relay for Life.

Lasso a Cure was sponsored and run by the National Junior Honor Society at McCleskey Middle School to raise money and awareness for Relay for Life. Chick-fil-A, McCleskey’s Partner in Education, and students from the high schools McCleskey feeds, Kell and Sprayberry, helped with the event Friday. Kell's marching band performed for the eighth-graders during their 10-minute walk around the field.

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Lasso a Cure at McCleskey’s McWalk

On Friday, McCleskey Middle School will participate in Lasso a Cure, a daylong walk and field day with carnivallike games to raise funds and awareness for Relay for Life.

Lasso a Cure McWalk begins at McCleskey Middle School with an opening ceremony and a grand walk of students around the field. Banners displaying the names of loved ones will remind the participants of cancer's impact, while the beautiful outdoor setting will keep everyone actively engaged in the walk and games. Participants will include Cobb County School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, Chief of Staff Cheryl Hungerford and Board of Education member Kathleen Angelucci. Chick-fil-A, Sports-A-Rama, Bruster's Old Fashioned Ice Cream, Menchies and Yogli Mogli are providing games, prizes and coupons for the raffle. Lasso a Cure is sponsored and run by the National Junior Honor Society at McCleskey Middle School to raise both funds and …

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Kell One of Largest Cobb Relay for Life Teams

The Longhorns are trying to raise $1,500 for the American Cancer Society.

Kell High School students, parents and faculty have created one of the largest teams participating in this weekend's Cobb Relay for Life. The Kell High School Longhorns' 82-member Relay for Life team is led by captain Kelly Taylor. The Longhorns have already signed up to Relay Online, and are using online fund-raising to become the best team in our community. Will you be next to join them? The team's message on the Relay for Life website: "We are making a difference by teaming up to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. "At the event, our team will camp out overnight and take turns walking around the track to raise money and awareness to help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more …

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