Relay For Life Kick-Off Event!

We planned and executed the Baldwin Co. Relay For Life Kick-Off Event on November 17 at 6 p.m. at Northside Baptist Church. I believe the event went AMAZING! Everything from the decorations to the food went perfectly (minus a minor cupcake mishap!) The decorations from our theme "Celebrate a Memory" were beautiful and the food was very theme-ish and delicious! I think the best thing from the event was that we all become closer as a class. This will be our third class together and it is nice to know that we are finally bonding and becoming friends rather than just classmates. It is nice to know that I have another group of girls to come to and help me when I need them. My favorite part of the event was the cupcake lighting and the slide show. I think it all went beautifully and I know there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Relay For Life is an amazing organization and I am very thankful I was able to be apart in the planning. I learned that from good preparation and planning, your event will be successful. My dad always says Brooke remember the 5 P's...Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. This is true in any aspect of life especially event planning. I believe our PR Admin class did a fabulous job tonight. I wouldn't have changed anything about it. I hope the Relay team was as proud of us as I am. Great job tonight girls :)

An Unwithering Rose

Approximately one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime. Rose Hartley never thought she would be one of them.

The diagnosis came as quite a shock in March 2002. It was a small spot on her nose right where her glasses sat, refusing to go away. Out of curiosity she went to see dermatologist Dr. Vickie Brown, where the spot was cut off and further examined. Soon after her visit to the doctor, the phone rang and her heart dropped, “I’m sorry Rose, it is cancerous”.

“I was terrified because all I could think was having to continuously get my nose cut into,” said Hartley.

After a second visit to Dr. Brown, she had more tissue removed and the treatment lasted six months. Hartley sincerely hopes she never has to hear those dreadful words again. Although it was a mild case, it was still frightening. There are no small cancers and she was fortunate she caught hers at an early stage. She was able to get through this tough time with God, the wonderful Dr. Brown, the support of her family and friends and of course her loving husband, Phillip Hartley. Phillip is also a cancer survivor and won the battle with prostate cancer.

“I am very active in Relay For Life because I never want my children or grandchildren to have the diagnosis of cancer.”

She began volunteering for Relay For Life as a Team Captain of the Oak Hill Middle School where she worked as the secretary. She retired two years ago and became the registration chair for the Baldwin County Relay For Life.

“Rose is a very dedicated volunteer who is willing to help whenever asked. She and her husband are very involved in the Milledgeville community and enjoy helping people in any way possible,” said Relay For Life Event Chair, Jan Nutt.

Rose Hartley defeated skin cancer and is a true survivor.

Relay For Life Pitch

"Unwrapping the Cure" was the theme for my amazing group of Anna Bryson and Corinne Burstein. We worked very well together and spent a lot of time organizing and coming up with ideas. We tried to carry idea from the title all the way to the table decorations. We wanted it our theme to be simplistic and uniform which I think we accomplished. We chose the three colors purple, white and silver to represent Relay. The thing we found most difficult was trying to think of things that would be different from the other groups since we all had the same theme. We tried to find something that would make us stand out and judging by the request, they liked the candy bar the best. I really enjoyed this project because it gave us real life experience with real clients that we had to work for. Also the fact that it was a competition made us work harder to achieve the goal. I was a little disappointed after the pitch because we worked so hard and long and did not get chosen. We spent a lot of time and money on the pitch and I thought we had a really good chance at winning but our idea was not what the judges were looking for. I think the group that got picked did a great job and we will all have fun working on their theme together. I am really looking forward to making this event happen for the Baldwin County Relay For Life!