By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL / Staff Writer

The 2018 Relay for Life kickoff on Jan. 9 announced several major changes to Clanton’s traditional relay event aimed each year to “attack cancer.”

This year, the event is set for April 27 — a Friday, instead of the city’s traditional Saturday date.

“One of the biggest changes is we’ll be having Relay downtown,” Jeannie Smith, community development manager for the American Cancer Society, said at the kickoff.

The event will be located at downtown Clanton’s intersection of Second Avenue and Sixth Street, an area popularly known as Corner Park.

Committee member Jerry Grooms announced most of the changes during the kickoff dinner.

“Holy Destiny will be our featured singers, and [the event is] only going to be from 6 to 10 p.m.,” Grooms said.

“For the most part, it’s just going to be [a] fun atmosphere, real festive. We’re kind of referring to it as our cancer fest,” Smith said. “We just really want it to be a celebration that you can enjoy without having to worry about putting so much work into a 12-hour event,” Smith said.

Grooms said the luminary walk will commence at Main Street Café after the Survivor’s Supper, which will likely take place in the restaurant.

“We’ll go up there, we’ll walk up to the corner, take a left, go into that little [courthouse] parking lot … go to the stage, and that’ll be it for us,” Grooms said.

Team site layouts will be another difference for this year’s event.

“In the past, we’ve always done campsites and tents and that type of thing,” Smith said. “If you still want your team to set up a tent and decorate a campsite, you’re more than welcome to. We want to try to make things easy for everyone and for you to really enjoy the event.”

While the committee will designate an area for teams who want to eat together, food will also be available from “one or two” food trucks, according to Smith.

“These are going to be changes for us, but we’re excited about it. We really want to vamp up the event and make some changes, get people’s interest back into Relay — and just really put our focus on what we’re all working so hard together for, and that is attacking cancer from every angle.”

For more information or to register teams online, go to relayforlife.org.

Anyone interested in joining the Relay for Life committee can contact Smith at (334) 410-0588.