BELPRE - Past and current patients of Strecker Cancer Center are invited to attend a picnic in their honor on Saturday.
The event will be from noon-2 p.m. in shelter number two in Belpre Civitan Park, with all food and entertainment provided, said organizer Courtney Beymer, a social worker with the center.
"We have been getting a lot of phone calls from survivors and their families asking what they can bring and the answer is just themselves," Beymer said. "Everything as far as food and such is being provided."
Beymer said the picnic, sponsored by Marietta Memorial Hospital and Strecker Cancer Center, has been held every autumn to honor those who fought cancer and won.
"We are celebrating everybody who has fought the battle and won as well as those who are fighting it now," she said. "I see patients currently going through treatment as survivors because every treatment they go through is a battle in itself."
Anyone who has been or is currently a patient at Strecker Cancer Center is invited to attend and bring their family and friends. Beymer said she hopes to see 50-75 cancer survivors and would like to see more.
"This is a celebration for them and we want everyone who can and wants to, to join us," she said. "Our patients and their families have been through the ringer and should be honored."
Food for the picnic will be provided by Subway, The Churn, Kroger and Applebee's in Marietta.
Entertainment will include oldies, country and rock from the Tune Smiths with door prizes that have been donated by the community and employees of MMH and Strecker Cancer Center.
At the end of the event, survivors will release butterflies to signify starting anew.
Strecker Cancer Center has held a survivors' picnic every year since 1993. This year's event will be held in Belpre to celebrate the new offices of both the center and MMH in Belpre.
