Boatner named honorary Relay for Life chairperson
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
April 21, 2004
Angie Boatner has been a big part of Lauderdale County Relay for Life events for the past four years.
She is the inspiration for two "Angie's Army" Relay for Life teams, whose members can be spotted miles away in their traditional, lime green T-shirts.
The teams, sponsored annually by Outback Steakhouse, raised about $17,000 for the American Cancer Society the past three years and hope to raise another $10,000 this year.
Boatner, 40, of Clarkdale, was named honorary chairperson today for the 2004 Relay for Life event.
A survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Boatner is the latest in a long line of honorary chairpersons who are examples of this year's Relay for Life theme, which also was announced today "Not Just Surviving … Thriving!"
Surviving
Betty Lou Jones is the publicity chairperson for this year's Relay for Life, Lauderdale County's 10th annual event.
After Boatner was diagnosed with cancer on March 7, 2001, 29 of her friends formed the "Angie's Army 1" and "Angie's Army 2" Relay for Life teams in the hall outside her hospital room that same day.
Just three months away from that year's Relay for Life event, the two teams managed to raise more than $10,000.
Boatner was released from the hospital the day of Relay for Life 2001 and made her first "Survivor's Lap" around the track at Meridian High School's Ray Stadium in a golf cart.
Boatner underwent chemotherapy for eight months, mostly as a hospital outpatient. Aside from a few occasions when she had to stay in the hospital, she never missed a baseball, football or soccer game in which her sons, Clark, 14, and Dillon, 12, played.
Her husband, Barry, arranged for Angie's friend, Sharon, to come from Louisiana and help out while Angie got well.
Boatner said people brought food to her house from March until November, and there was always somebody who took care of her turn at the car pool getting kids to sporting events.
Thriving
Because she was relatively young and in good health otherwise, Boatner received aggressive treatment for the cancer.
She said receiving messages of inspiration and notices that she was on the prayer lists of many area churches during her treatment assured her she was not alone.
Her main advice to others?
Boatner has always thrived on life. She is a homemaker, she still makes it to all the ball games and she is a member of Jones Chapel Church of God in Clarkdale, where she plays piano.
But if being a cancer survivor has taught her anything, it is to be more appreciative of the life we have.
