After being unable to host an in-person event in 2020, Relay for Life of Cullman County will be returning in May with a new look to help keep participants safe.

Relay for Life’s “Lights on First” event will be held on May 7 along First Avenue in Cullman’s Warehouse District, and will feature a drive-thru survivors’ parade and drive-in slide show to honor survivors, remember those who have been lost to cancer and recognize caregivers.

People will also be able to donate $10 to dedicate a luminaria, or lit paper lantern, that will be placed along First Avenue to celebrate survivors or remember loved ones.

Luminarias can be purchased by visiting relayforlife.org/cullmanal

Paper forms to purchase a luminaria will also be printed in The Cullman Times throughout the month of April, and can be filled out and mailed to the address listed on the form or returned to the Times’ office at 300 Fourth Avenue SE.

All orders for luminarias should be submitted by April 30 to allow for organizers to prepare them for the event on May 7, said Relay for Life organizer Gail Crutchfield.

She said anyone who donates the $10 to dedicate a luminaria will also get a free entry in the slide show for the person they are honoring, and they can include a picture and message for the slide by emailing them to gailc220@yahoo.com.

The luminarias and survivors’ walk are always the most touching parts of Relay for Life each year, but the coronavirus pandemic has caused a few changes for this year’s event, Crutchfield said.

“Because of COVID, we’re having to adjust,” she said.

Some of the restrictions have already been lifted or will be lifted by May, but many of the participants in Relay for Life are cancer survivors who may have compromised immune systems, so keeping everyone in their cars is the safest way to hold the event, Crutchfield said.

“Our main goal is to keep them safe and healthy,” she said.

The parade route will start at First Street and travel down First Avenue through the Warehouse District towards Depot Park. Once someone goes through the parade, they can pull into the parking lot behind the Cullman County Museum and watch the slide show that will be projected for everyone to see.

The slide show will also be shown later on the Relay For Life of Cullman County Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The parade will start at 8:30 p.m. and will run until around 10 p.m. or until the last participants have made their way through.

Crutchfield also encouraged survivors to decorate their cars for the parade.

Relay for Life typically features a stage for survivors to come up and speak, but since that isn’t possible this year, they should decorate their cars to let everyone know who they are, she said.

All of last year’s Relay for Life events were canceled by the American Cancer Society to make sure everyone stayed as safe as possible during the pandemic, and while this year’s drive-thru parade won’t be the same as the usual event, it will at least bring everyone together again for the first time in more than a year, Crutchfield said.

“We want to see those faces again,” she said. “We miss everybody.”

Visit relayforlife.org/cullmanal for more information or to donate or contact Event Lead Helen Allen at 256-709-4019 or helenma1941@gmail.com.