Government

Relay for Life organizers eye Greenport location

KATHARINE SCHROEDER FILE PHOTO | The Southold Relay for Life, benefitting the American Cancer Society, is moving to move from Peconic to Greenport.

Organizers of the local Relay for Life event are hoping to give a fresh feel to the fundraiser by changing its location to Mitchell Park in Greenport.

Melina Angelson, who helps run the annual event to raise money for the American Cancer Society, requested permission from the Greenport village Board last month to move the event from Jean Cochran Park in Peconic.

She believes moving the event to a waterfront location would encourage more people to participate in the relay, adding that other chapters of the organization had a greater turnout when staging the event in similar locations.

“By moving the event to Greenport, right in the middle of the village, the weekend after Memorial Day, hopefully we’ll get the whole town to participate,” Ms. Angelson said.

In addition to moving to Mitchell Park, Ms. Angelson is proposing to use other village properties, including the Polo Grounds to accommodate all the participants. The hours of the event would be changed as well. Instead of being an overnight gathering, the relay would start at noon on Saturday May 31 and end at midnight.

The event would still feature Relay for Life staples, including a meal for survivors and a survivor lap, a candlelight walk at dusk and the lighting luminaries with the names of loved ones who have died from or are battling cancer

For the past eight years, Southold Relay for Life has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research. Ms. Angelson estimates that next relay event will put the chapter over the $1 million mark in funds raised.

On Monday, Village Board members set a resolution to reserve Mitchell Park for Relay for Life of May 31 and are expected to vote on the matter during its regular session next week.

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