“Rally for a Cure,” the annual fundraiser and community extravaganza sponsored by the American Cancer Society in Tallahatchie County, will be held Saturday, April 9, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The familiar venue will be the Charleston Elementary School gymnasium — the “old gym,” as some call it — on Chestnut Street in Charleston.
Betty Buntin, local ACS president, said the event will feature the usual delights, including a country store booth, where shoppers may peruse a wide variety of odd-and-end merchandise; the purse palace, featuring purses donated by members of the community and available for purchase; and a sweet shoppe and candy store, offering some sinfully delicious delights handcrafted especially for the occasion.
Many local businesses and individuals have contributed items for the Rally’s silent auction, which Buntin said should offer something of interest to just about anyone.
Tallahatchie General Hospital will be on hand to provide a chemistry work-up, Buntin noted, featuring blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol screenings. Some other health care vendors are expected to be on hand, providing services and educational information, she added.
There will be a variety of activities for the children, including face painting and a new “pick up ducks” game inside the gym, and inflatables and rides aboard Roy Shook’s train outside.
The Charleston Lions Club will be serving up fresh, hot hamburgers and hot dogs, and other food items will be available, too.
— * —
According to Buntin, the festivities will get underway at 9 a.m. with a welcome by Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith.
Charleston Church of God pastor LaMar Davis will offer a devotional and prayer.
From 10 until 11:30 a.m., Melvin Mordecai, a chaplain with Community Hospice Inc., will entertain by performing Motown and rhythm and blues favorites, including “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch,” My Girl,” “Turn Back the Hands of Time,” “Unchained Melody,” “When a Man Loves a Woman” and more. He will showcase his talent with the tenor saxophone throughout his performance.
LaMar Davis will sing for the luminary service beginning at 11:30. This solemn service honors cancer survivors and memorializes those claimed by the disease.
The Rally’s balloon liftoff will be held at noon outside the front doors of the gym.
Rally-goers may purchase luminaries and balloons to pay tribute to anyone of their choosing, with all proceeds benefiting the work of the local ACS.
Beginning at 12:15 p.m., Roger Paul Mills of Oxford will be performing in the manner of Elvis Presley. The “real Elvis” played this very venue as an up-and-coming young singer in the mid-1950s. Mills, who started singing with a few friends in high school, eventually forming a band, now travels and performs his Elvis routine at nursing homes and private functions throughout the area.
“Come, kick back and listen to some wonderful entertainment,” said Buntin.
