slideshow

The American Cancer Society will host the annual Relay For Life event at 6 p.m. on Friday at Huff Park in Harlan. It will end at 6 a.m. on Saturday.

The presentation of the flag by the Holy Trinity Cub Scout Pack 149 will open the ceremonies. Deric Jeffers will lead everyone in the National Anthem.

Steve Tolliver, Bank of Harlan president, will be the guest speaker.

Teams will be introduced and presented with awards. At 7 p.m., a survivor recognition ceremony will be held with Miss Harlan County escorting cancer survivors and fighters. Immediately following will be the opening survivor/caregiver lap around Huff Park escorted by members of the Harlan High School football team. A parade of teams will follow.

“I have been involved in the Relay For Life since 2009,” said Phyllis Napier, Harlan County Relay For Life chair. “This is my second year as the county chair.”

Napier said she became involved in Relay For Life due to her father being diagnosed with prostate cancer and staying free of charge at the Hope Lodge in Lexington for six weeks while he had his treatments.

“They were so good to my father during this time,” said Napier. “I just wanted to give back to the American Cancer Society. I’m happy to say that today my dad is winning his fight.”

During this year’s event, there will be music from the Tony Dean Family, Deric Jeffers, Lawanna Blevins, Jeffrey Shayne and Brooklyn Collins.

There will also be live music from DJ Mark Lawson with Maximum Sound Studio.

“Brandon Robinson, meteorologist from WYMT, will emcee the event for us,” said Napier. “We have free inflatables from Sander’s Bounce House from 7:30 p.m. until midnight. D&D Kustomz will do airbrush tattoos with all proceeds going to Relay For Life. There will be an exhibition by Flips and Flops Gymnastics and a puppet show by the First Baptist Church of Loyall. There will also be free games from 7:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. courtesy of the Harlan County 4-H Extension Service. It’s a fun-filled event and we hope everyone will make plans to join us.”

Napier said the American Cancer Society spends millions of dollars each year to fund research to help find a cure for cancer. She said through this research “people are living longer and treatments are becoming more successful.”

“Our Luminaria Ceremony will begin at 11 p.m. and bags may be purchased at the event in honor of survivors/fighters or in memory of those who have lost their battle with cancer,” said Napier. “It’s such a serene ceremony — filled with a lot of emotion. We encourage everyone to come out and show their support for families and loved ones who have had or have someone battling cancer.”

Another highlight of the event is the “Dude Looks Like a Lady Pageant” held each year at 11:30 p.m.

“Everyone enjoys this tremendously,” said Napier. “It’s a time to laugh and have a good time. We always have a great show of support from the men participating in the event. We just hope everyone will stop by and visit one of the 21 teams participating this year and give them a donation and enjoy some great food and cold drinks.”

Roxanne Miller, community representative with the Mid-South Division of the American Cancer Society, said a mini-Relay For Life will be held in Cumberland on the campus of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“A mini-Relay For Life has all the main components a Relay For Life event has, which include an opening ceremony, survivor recognition and lap, entertainment, team booths, veterans recognition and lap, luminaria ceremony and a closing ceremony,” said Miller. “Everyone from Harlan County and the surrounding counties are welcome to join us at either or both of the events.”

Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510, ext. 115, nsizemore@civitasmedia.com

slideshow

The county’s radio system was a topic for discussion at a recent meeting of the Harlan County Emergency Management E-911 Advisory Board.

Emergency Management Director David McGill told members the contract for the Black Mountain Tower Site through Cornett Electronics has not been paid due to not having the equipment to develop the site.

“I will hopefully know more within the next two to three weeks whether we can get this,” said McGill. “With the money crunch that the county is in I figure every dollar we can save is a good thing.”

Barbara Burkhart, chief of the Bledsoe Volunteer Fire Department, said Bledsoe is having radio problems communicating not only with Kentucky State Police (KSP), but also communicating among each other en route or on the scene. She also said the problem is throughout their fire service district — not limited to one specific area.

“We can’t connect with KSP when we need to,” said Burkhart. “Either they’re not hearing us or we’re having dead zones. I’ve tried to rotate towers to see if we can connect when we’re in different areas and we’re still not getting any response. I don’t know if there are just certain areas that are dead zones or if we’re just not getting out. We’re having trouble communicating between each other with our radios.”

County radio technician Cary Johnson stated the equipment for the Leslie County Emergency Operation Center is ready to be installed for communications between the two counties and for the Bledsoe Volunteer Fire Department — providing mutual aid calls within Leslie County.

Johnson said he is waiting on them to contact him as to when he may install the equipment.

“We’re having some major issues with Leslie County,” said Burkhart. “We only have three functioning radios that work with Leslie County. It’s a real issue especially with responding firefighters and I’m real concerned about accidents and stuff. Cell phones are practically useless down on that end. You can’t contact them a lot of times. But, we really need something soon.”

Harlan Fire Chief Linette Hutchison asked Johnson if there was any way the fire department and police department could talk on the same channel or group. She said at this time the only way it could be done is if both agencies switched over to the trunking system and used the mutual aid channel.

“We’re having a big discussion, at least for the city of Harlan. When we respond to a motor vehicle accident, in order to talk to the police, we’re having to flip channels back and forth. It’s getting to be a headache,” said Hutchison. “Is there any way for the city of Harlan and the police to be on one and have one section like a city section? Does that sound feasible?”

Johnson said the radios can be programmed “any way you want,” as long as the board agrees to that.

“We go out on a lot of stuff together and we can’t talk to each other,” said Harlan City Police Chief Mike Thomas.

McGill asked Cary if paging can be done on the trunking system. Johnson responded, saying it could be and he would check on getting everything set up and online to be able to do so.

Harlan County Rescue Squad Capt. Chris Allen said some of his members are having problems receiving the alphanumeric pages up KY 38 and in the Evarts area.

McGill said he thinks alphanumeric pagers are “outdated” and that “using eDispatch or text messaging would be better as a secondary paging system instead of the pagers.”

“Not all of my people carry radios,” said Hutchison. “There are actually some people who don’t have cell phones.”

In other board action:

*Thomas made a motion to install the trunking system mutual aid channel at the Harlan headquarters. The motion was seconded by Allen. All other members were in agreement.

*McGill told members the new radio system’s standard operating guidelines have not been officially implemented. Allen made a motion to rescind the guidelines and Burkhart seconded that motion. Allen and Burkhart voted in favor with Thomas, Hutchison and Wallins Fire Chief Dean Green voting against. The motion did not pass.

Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510, ext. 115, nsizemore@civitasmedia.com