By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL / Staff Writer

As part of a nationwide Relay For Life contest, Relay For Life of Chilton County is urging Chilton County residents to register for this year’s Relay for Life event, set for April 27.

The top 12 Relay For Life events will win a grand prize — and by grand, they mean massive — a larger-than-life Inflatable Relay Chair.

The challenge? Register online between Jan. 22 and Jan. 28 to participate in Relay For Life 2018. Winners are selected based on the largest percentage growth of online registrations during the seven-day span.

The chair can be used at winners’ events “from here on out,” according to Jeannie Smith, senior manager of Relay For Life of Chilton County.

“People can sit on it — you’ll be able to sit six or seven people across the top. People can sit on the ottoman. [It is a] super, super cool photo booth prop,” Smith said. “It’s a really, really big chair.”

Chilton County’s Relay For Life 2018 will take place in downtown Clanton, near the Clanton County Courthouse.

“Our survivors are going to be our VIP guests for the evening,” Smith said.

Survivors will enjoy a dinner sponsored by Main Street Café before taking a stroll for the traditional Relay For Life survivor lap.

Later in the evening, luminaries will light the way for the event-wide ceremonial luminary walk.

“We’ve got Holy Destiny as our featured entertainment, so they will be playing throughout the night,” Smith said. “We’ll also have other local entertainment entwined in there.”

These include singers, dancers, cheerleaders and a YMCA performance.

Anyone interested in providing further entertainment for the event can email Smith at jeannie.smith@cancer.org.

“We want to encourage everyone to come out, to get involved and register, register, register this week!” Smith said. “We really want one of those purple big chairs at Chilton County.”

For more information or to register, go to relayforlife.org/chiltonal.