-- 40 Days Until Relay --

 

Hello! This is Jon Reynolds in East Tennessee... I'm the Website Chair for the Relay For Life of Greene County. We live in the foothills of the Southern Appalachians, near the intersection of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. It's a pretty place... please stop by and visit us at www.relayforlife.org/greenetn !

 

It's now just 40 days until Relay, and I thought that it's high time to introduce myself and share some thoughts about my experiences this year as the Relay's website chair.

On top of my mind is how I got involved in all this. The Relay team at my employer is very active, and I had supported the team by purchasing tickets, goodies, and luminaria in honor of my mother, a 10-year cancer survivor. All well and good... but last year right after Thanksgiving my dear wife of 19 years was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Relay team, co-workers, friends, family, the ACS and medical community all joined in Debora's support, and today she is more than one year cancer-free.

 

This experience gave me a new perspective on the way that cancer profoundly touches so many lives. I was ready to become more involved in the fight, and I had the opportunity when Tom, the county's Relay Chair asked me to serve as website chair for the coming year.

 

My ignorance was to Tom's advantage, for I had no idea what might be involved. I also must admire his courage, because while I have experience in information technology, I had only a basic knowledge of web-building, and that from several years in the past. "Fear not!" said Tom, "everything will be fine"...

 

That conversation was late last summer, and as I sit here today the site is up and running. Nothing too spiffy, mind you... but it seems to work, and I've learned a lot (about a lot of things). I'll start to get in to all that next time...

 

Jon Reynolds

Website Chair, Relay For Life of Greene County

Website: www.relayforlife.org/greenetn

Personal Page: main.acsevents.org/goto/DeboraAndJon