ATHENS-This year when the City of Athens Relay for Life Team kicks off its annual bass fishing tournament on May 7, its members will have more than fishing and fundraising on their minds.
The team lost two members recently to cancer, Athens City Councilman Frank Travis and part-time Athens Police Department employee Kathy Cothren. In addition, a fellow employee’s daughter is batting cancer, team members lost loved ones to cancer and had loved ones fight cancer this year, and team members fought cancer themselves.
“The last email I sent the team about losing Kathy, it was hard to know what to say,” Team Captain Holly Hollman said.
She decided to share something she saw on display at the Southern Cancer Center of Huntsville when she took Kathy to her consultation for colon cancer. The display included words by L.R. Knost:
Life is amazing.
And then it’s awful.
And then it’s amazing again.
And in between the amazing and awful it’s ordinary and mundane and routine.
Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary.
That’s just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life.
And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.
Kathy Cothren
“Kathy planned to be at this fishing tournament at 4 a.m. ready to check live wells, make a doughnut run and fellowship throughout the day,” Hollman said. “Losing Kathy and Councilman Travis so close together along with the other heartaches our team has gone through, we’re more dedicated than ever, but we’re also hurting.”
The 11th annual City of Athens Relay for Life Bass Fishing Tournament will be Saturday, May 7, from safelight to 2 p.m. at Ingalls Harbor. Those interested in supporting efforts to “fish for a cure” can find a registration form online at www.athensal.us or at City Hall, or register online at Active.com. Registration prior to the event is $100 per team with an optional $10 for Big Fish. Registration will be available the day of the event starting at 4 a.m. Cost will be $110 cash with an optional $10 for Big Fish.
There will be cash prizes for first through 10th place, lunch for boaters, and a door prize drawing for boaters.
The fishing tournament is the team’s largest fundraiser of the year. Sponsors include Athens Gas Department, Athens Electric Department and Fowler Auction.
Hollman said Cothren secured the Fowler Auction sponsorship not long ago.
“I drove her to Fowler Auction in Ardmore, and she walked in and told Mickey Fowler she needed a check, and sure enough, we walked out with one,” Hollman said. “All the proceeds from this event will go to the American Cancer Society to keep fighting for people like Councilman Travis and Kathy.”
According to the American Cancer Society, funds raised support research, education, advocacy and service. This includes Hope Lodges in Birmingham and Nashville and research grants at Alabama universities. ACS states that donations “fuel the fight against cancer and has contributed to a 31% decline in the U.S. cancer death rate since 1991.”
