The 2011 installment of Marengo County’s Relay for Life will begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. at George Franks Field.

This year boasts a Carnival theme.

The event formally kick off with a survivor dinner at 5 p.m.

The night’s festivities begin with the annual cancer survivor’s walk and the patient caregiver walk, followed by the lighting of the luminaries given in thanks or in memory of loved ones.

Candlelit bags lining the walkway called luminaria will bear the names of those who have survived cancer or fallen victim to it. For information about luminaria, contact Shelia Snow at 289-0637.

Entertainment will follow promptly and teams will embark on their competitions to raise the most money, with each dollar raised going toward cancer research.

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Societyís signature overnight fund-raising event, bringing together more than 3.5 million people every year to:

Celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer. The strength of survivors inspires others to continue to fight.

Remember loved ones lost to the disease. At Relay, people who have walked alongside those battling cancer can grieve and find healing.

Fight Back. We Relay because we have been touched by cancer and desperately want to put an end to the disease. Make a commitment to save lives by taking up the fight.

This year, Marengo County’s Relay efforts have been challenged to raise $96,000 over 25 teams. The 2011 goal represents a nearly $10,000 increase in funds raised in 2010.

Last year’s efforts obliterated the goal of $79,000 by raising $86,630.

Of the funds raised last year, the top team from the RockTenn Demopolis mill raised $35,039.02, or 40.44 percent of the grand total, earning the team the Diamond Fundraising Club status.

The Walmart team placed second with $9,564.74 raised, or 11.04 percent of the total, earning it Gold Fundraising Club status.

Earning Silver Fundraising Club status were the Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital team, with $7,051.52 raised; the Robertson Banking Company team, which raised $6,662.14; and the Walk for Life team in memory of Leigh Ward Abrams, raising $5,413.

Earning Bronze Fundraising Club status were the team from Foster Farms, which raised $4,504.64, and the team from Quest Club of Linden, which raised $4,494.29.

Youth teams included the Demopolis High School DECA and Key clubs, which raised $978.21, the Youth Leadership Board, which raised $762.30, and the John Essex High School Beta Club, which raised $563.25.

The top three individual fund-raisers were Tommy Vice of the Robertson Banking Company team, who raised $2,019; Jimbo Ward of the Walk for Life team, who raised $2,000; and Linda Wilson of the Quest Club team, who raised $985.

Amedisys Home Health Services, the title sponsor this year, raised $2,320.50, while Sweet Water State Bank raised $2,156 and Christian Chapel Baptist Church raised $1,892.76.