Lexington, TN

It was May 29, 2009 at 4:15 pm I was rushing to Beech Lake Park for Henderson County Annual Relay for Life. I had been rushing around all day, errands and baking desserts I finally got a shower and on my way.

When I arrived at the park it was full of teams, tents and aroma. Shirley, Keith and Tommy did a fabulous job at setting up our booth. Kathy from Meo Mio's Cajun Restaurant was there with Red Beans and Rice and Gumbo. We sold chances for a house with no attached mortgage, insurance or taxes (some think it's on the small side), we also had a table of items for chance including a remote control car, solar yard lights, purses, local business gift certificates just to name a few. We were very successful with these raising money for Relay.

Shirley, (my broker), who is a breast cancer surviver was Co-Host this year and was interviewed by the local news about the success Henderson County has with Relay for Life. Her sister wrote a beautiful poem that was read in honor of Shirley and her time of fighting this horrible disease.

Since last year was our first year somethings got past me that I noticed this year;

• First off the "Survivors Walk" which was very eye opening to see the people in my community, this really put a face on cancer for me.
• Second was the "Memory Walk" which everything in the park gets shut down, (lights/generators) the luminaries on the path around the circumference of teams are lit and all that want to walk in honor or memory do. It was much more emotional for me than I realized since we lost my husbands brother to cancer last year.
• Listening to more speakers of how cancer has effected so many lives.
• Lastly I did not know the reason for Relay all nighters was because "Cancer does not sleep so neither will we for one night".

Another fun team is the Henderson County Sheriffs Dept. who bring out their Paddy Wagon, arrest people (for a fee) and they have to, of coarse, pay to get out!


I have made it a tradition at Relay to fall ;-) .... Last year I was racing across the park to the stage for a "get here first" contest, hit a low spot and down I went! How, How embarrassing! Oh well thats me, so this year I verbally confessed NO running across the park no matter what the prize........low n behold I was trying to get a better picture of survivor balloon release, stand on a chair right? Wrong~me and three chairs on the ground, and there go the balloons with no picture!

All in All, another successful year for us, Coldwell Banker McKee Realty won the "Most Spirited Team"!!! And success for Henderson County Relay for Life ~~~~~ over $100,000.00 raised by a rural county in Tennessee. Many people have worked very hard for 2009 and many have already started 2010! I know we have already bounced around ideas for the Coldwell Banker McKee Realty Relay for Life Team.

If you have ideas and suggestions I would love to hear them, we're on a mission to put cancer out for a long night of sleep.

If you haven't already joined a community project I would encourage you to find something your interested in and jump in with both feet. There are many worthy causes that bring people and communities together.

Last Friday night was our first experience at the Relay event at Beech Lake in Lexington, TN.

The community support was amazing as thousands showed up.

Lots of good food and entertainment.

We were a rookie team. Not knowing what to expect.

Our learnings from the event:

1. Lots of work. Recruit more team members next year.

2. If you are serving food, get there earlier and plan to serve the dinner crowd. At around 10:00 most call it a night.

3. Develop a list of things to sell and raise more money during the event.

4. Make it fun. Play games, scavenger hunts, music, etc.

5. Prizes you give away shouldn't be won by anyone in your company. Sorry team.

6. Plan more inspirational and motivational messages. Never forget why you're there.

7. Pack a coat. The lake wind....brrrrrrr.

Looking forward to next year. More prepared, more informed, and more of a contributor.

We are thankful we reached our goal. It was such a rewarding experience.

Linda Lipscomb, Lexington's E-PRO Broker 731-695-1118 http://LindaLipscomb.com

RE/MAX Unlimited 870 W. Church St. Lexington, TN. 731-249-5376

http://unlimited.tennessee.remax.com

Relay for Life are 3 words that I was not familiar with 5 years ago. When I moved to Lexington, TN I would see Relay for Life team signs all over town with events all year long to raising money to donate for this all important cause of finding a Cure for Cancer. It was 2007 when I joined the Coldwell Banker McKee Realty RfL team. The year starts the first of June~any given year and ends the last Friday of May beginning at 5 p.m. and goes till 5 a.m. I did not know what to expect for my first all nighter since I was a teenager (or had a new born) but let me tell you I was overwhelmed with the turnout from our community and we had so much fun!

Well it's that time of year again for Henderson County, today is Relay for Life relay night. When I left the office yesterday Keith said "Make sure you get a good night sleep tonight-Your going to need it for all the fun tomorrow night" ;-) and boy is he right. We had set up shifts last year but, we were having so much fun no one wanted to leave. I have to give kudos to Stuart Stanfill for achieving the most entertaining 12 hours of emceeing I have ever heard, and I'm sure he won't let us down this year. If your not already involved in Relay for Life, I encourage you to look into an existing team or start your own.

When I started with the RfL team the only person I knew touched by cancer was my broker Shirley McKee who has survived breast cancer and has tested cancer free for 7 years. On June 27, 2008 my brother-in-law Roger called to say he was in the hospital in IN and had been diagnosed with cancer in advanced stages. We went to see him July 4th weekend and he passed away July 10, 2008. This cause now had a whole new meaning to me.

I have always said I love living in Lexington, TN and tried to put the reasons on a list but this is one of the biggest reasons: this county will pull together like no other for all kinds of reasons and work together and in the end all you will remember is having all kinds of fun.

If your anywhere near West TN today May 29-Stop by Beech Lake in Henderson County for Relay for Life Relay Night. If your not able to make it Lexington is a great place to visit and live, stop by and see us!

It's funny to me how we get up every morning, go through a routine fall back in bed at the end of the day and get up the next day and do it again and years go by without much notice. Depending on the stage of life we are in the routines vary; it might be college time for some, career, significant other, children and family. All through life we are presented with choices, sometimes we know exactly what to do and the exact outcome we want and other times situations come from left field and turns everything upside down to a different path.

This is what happened to our family. Married for a few years my daughter was 3 and my son 6 months, and we found out that my mom needed a quadruple bypass. She had an excellent surgeon but she never completely recovered from this procedure and unfortunately this was only the first of many surgeries in her future. My sister and I spent countless hours in Dr. offices, hospitals and months in nursing homes for rehab. In the beginning she would travel and spend time with my sisters family in New Jersey, but flying eventually became to much. Eventually it became obvious that she wasn't eating properly, keeping up with medications and becoming a fall risk to often to live alone; so our choice was for her to move in with my family. I found myself part of the "Sandwich Generation" balancing small children and aging parent, something I had never imagined and was not a part of the exact outcome I had planned for my young family. Thankfully my husband was always supportive no matter what was put aside in our life.

Mom had lived with us for seven years when she fell out of the bed during the night and couldn't get up to wake me, so I found her hours later. Our family Dr. was very tactful and persuasive in the fact that she was to the point of needing more than I could provide, she was going to need rehab and I needed to consider full time skilled care. Mom had rehab at several nursing homes in WI where we had lived and in NJ by my sister and we always hoped she wouldn't have to stay full time. This decision had become as important to me as where would my children grow up and attend school; but this was a decision I did not want to make.

Welcome to Lexington Manor, Lexington Tennessee. The outside of the building is immaculate, beautiful landscaping surrounding a huge front porch full of rocking chairs, and the windows are painted for every holiday and season. From the moment I sat down with the admitting director I was taken care of. They understood that this was incredibly difficult for me and that I wasn't convinced that she was staying. They had all the paper work in order for me to easily complete, when mom arrived from the hospital the staff was in high gear with admitting procedures, getting her comfortable and helping me get her belongings arranged.

In come the nurses, they were efficient, helpful and most of all kind. It probably wasn't the three I have pictured here since my mind wasn't on taking pictures that day but these ladies have made a life long impression on me with their skill and care for the residents they are charged with caring for. I can not say enough about this facility! The staff is always on top of their game, from housekeeping, nursing assistants, maintenance guys-everyone treats this job as it's their family. The one thing that I can't impress enough is how I have never come across one staff member who is ever rude, impatient, or unpleasant. There is constant contact with the family concerning any needs, and they know exactly which resident your there to visit. The activity schedule keeps them busy, normal exercise and bingo but add diner out, baseball games in Jackson, horse and carriage rides, family dinner night to name a few. Local churchs are here every weekend with activities too. They take top notch care of the building and residents rooms.

It only took a few weeks to realize that I had hit the jackpot for skilled care facilities with Lexington Manor, and I was as comfortable as I could be. I finally stopped crying every time I left her there.

Mom stayed at Lexington Manor for nine months until she passed away July 23, 2008. She always said "If I can't live with you this is the next best place to be-the people are so nice here". Today would have been her 80th birthday...Thank you Lexington Manor for the special care you gave and helping me make one of the hardest choices in my life the right choice

My choices directly effected every aspect of my life...I was blessed to be able to help my mom for as long as I did, my children are compassionate for the elderly because of the experience. God always met our needs and we are blessed.