Relay for life is 30 years old but that special birthday may not bring out the crowds.

“Relay for Life is struggling right now,” LaChona Ferguson, Relay for Life specialist, said. “The feel I get is that people are just burned out. They can go to Susan B. Koman or others that are easier and not as time consuming. We’re hoping that we’ll get a good turnout this year, but we’ll see.”

Currently seven teams are signed up for Relay, which is Saturday May 16 from noon to midnight at South Point High School. Teams conduct their own Relay for Life fundraisers.

“The theme this year is birthday for the 30th anniversary,” she said. “Teams will decorate their tents themed around birthday celebrations.”

An entertainment chair will book the entertainment for the 12-hour event.

“The event will open up with a survivor lap, then a caregiver lap followed by a team lap,” she said. “Survivors will then be released to go to the survivor dinner and from there it will kick off the entertainment.”

Survivors also have a tent with bingo and prizes.

“The luminaria lap takes place at dusk,” she said. “Probably around 9 or 9:30. Candlelit bags will be lined all around the track.”

Names of participant’s family members or friends who died from cancer in the past year will be announced during the luminaria lap.

“At the top of every hour, there’s a random lap, or looney lap,” she said. “There’s a ribbon for the winner of each looney lap, and judges determine the winner for those particular laps.”

The captains of each team will get a blue T-shirt, participants will receive a white T-shirt, and survivors will get purple ones. Event leadership will wear green and security will wear gray.

Ferguson is a Relay for Life specialist in the East Central Division of the American Cancer Society. She currently manages Relay for Life in Lawrence, Scioto, Jackson and Gallia counties as well as all Shawnee State University. Anyone interested in creating a team or participating in Relay for Life may contact Ferguson at 740-708-5186 or email her at LaChonaFerguson@cancer.org.