Pike County was, once again, over the top in its giving to the Pike County Relay for Life campaign.

Deedie Carter, 2017 Relay for Life co-chair, said the campaign reached and exceeded its goal with $141,730.75.

“Pike County has been successful in exceeding its goal for its Relay for Life campaigns because the people of Pike County have loving and giving spirits,” she said. “We are a small community and yet so many people have been affected by cancer, either directly or indirectly. Cancer is a horrible disease and the people of Pike County are committed to doing their part to make sure that future generations don’t have to go through what we go through as a community.”

Carter said on behalf of co-chair Leigh Ann Windham and the Pike County Relay for Life board, she wanted to express appreciation to all of the campaign’s sponsors, to all the teams and individuals who raised funds, to all the volunteers and to the many who gave so generously and from the heart to the fight against cancer.

Rainy and unseasonably cold weather but a damper on the culminating Relay event Friday night at the Troy Sportsplex and that was somewhat disappointing but only in the smallest sense, Carter said.

“We had hoped for great weather for the outdoor concert to celebrate a successful Relay for Life campaign,” she said. “But any time you have an outdoor event there’s no guarantee and it’s happened before and that has not and does not diminish the success of Relay.”

Windham said as long as the Relay campaign raised money for the fight against cancer and honored the victories over the disease and remembered the battles lost,  it was successful.

“We celebrated the victories won over cancer with the Survivors’ Dinner and that such a meaningful event,” Windham said. “The lighting of the luminaries and torches celebrated the lives of the many cancer survivors and honored and remembered those who lost their battles. The 2017 Relay for Life was successful in the ways that really count and we thank everyone who was a part of those successes.”