The 2009 Chilton County Relay for Life may have come to a close early Saturday morning as the sun rose, but the donations and counting continue.

Relay chairperson Robert Griffin said final donations and team totals are still coming in and should be finalized next week.

“Right now, we are right at $165,000 and have a little more coming in over the next few days,” Griffin said Saturday afternoon. “We were still raising money last night, selling wristbands to kids for the Moonwalk for $5 and sold about 200 of those.”

Though the overall dollar goal may not be reached, Griffin said he could not be any more pleased with how the entire event went.

“We’re just thrilled. It went fantastic,” Griffin said after catching a few hours of sleep Saturday morning.

He said there were a few teams who stayed all the way through the morning and to the 6 a.m. conclusion.

“We had a few that stayed around. There were still some campfires going this morning,” Griffin said. “It was cold and damp this morning when the sun rose. It was about 57 degrees.”

The top fundraising team for the 2009 Chilton County Relay for Life was the team from Jemison Middle School, which raised a total of $8,800, Griffin said.

For a recap of the annual Relay for Life, with a list of winners, amounts and pictures from Friday’s Relay event at the Clanton Little League Football field, see Thursday’s edition of The Advertiser.