Covington County Relay for Life raised approximately $58,000 for the American Cancer Society with this year’s event, organizer Randi Bozeman said.

As of Friday night, Bozeman said that they had raised $56,461, but were still waiting on some sponsor money.

“I think that we will come close to $57,000,” Bozeman said. “We are still waiting on some money, but it is still less than the goal of $70,000.”

The event moved from the Kiwanis fairgrounds to Springdale this year, and the move was well received.

“I loved the new location,” Bozeman said. “I think that it was very interactive. I think the community really enjoyed it as well.”

Bozeman said that several of the new events during the celebration were a hit this year as well.

“We had a lot of people enter the car show this year,” Bozeman said. “It was really awesome. The D.J. was wonderful and I think SnoBiz added an extra aspect that I think people really liked as well.”

Bozeman said that nationwide, the participation in Relay for Life has declined.

“If you look at the numbers, nationwide they keep going down,” Bozeman said. “We are doing all we can do to keep introducing new things and making it fun for everyone, which is why we had it at Springdale this year.”

Despite the falling numbers, Bozeman said that the participation in this year’s event was a lot more than last year.

“I think the number of people from the community that came out this year was more than last year,” Bozeman said. “I did have a lot of people tell me that they noticed the cars and the tents at Springdale so they just stopped and joined in on the celebration. It is centrally located, which is great for us. I think there are a lot of people that don’t know that Relay for Life is open for everyone. There are a lot of people that think that it is just for people that have gone through a cancer journey or are relatives of somebody with cancer and that is not the case.”

One thing that Bozeman said organizers are going to work on for next year is the placement of the walking track.

“Something that a lot of the survivors and something that I just noticed myself is that there was too much walking,” Bozeman said. “We were walking between the track at the Veteran’s Memorial and Springdale and it was a little too much. If we do the event at Springdale again, I think that we are going to change that for sure.”

All in all, Bozeman said that the event was a success and the committee is already looking for feedback from the community so they can think about next year’s event.

“Next year will be our 20th anniversary,” Bozeman said. “So we are definitely looking to play it up next year. We want the community to be involved though. We want people to reach out and tell us what you want to see, because it does bring the community together. The survivors always appreciate the support when they come out and see everybody from the community rallying around them.”

If anyone would like to provide feedback on the Relay for Life event, contact Bozeman at trmd651@gmail.com or leave a message on the Covington County Relay for Life Facebook page.