PROCTORVILLE — It’s the disease that can strike anyone anywhere and has. Few can say they have never been touched in some manner by cancer.

That’s why the Greasy Ridge Church of Christ has for the past eight years participated in the annual Relay for Life event that raises money for cancer research.

“Church members and family members, everybody has been impacted by cancer,” Jeff Floyd explains. Floyd is one of the organizers of the three major fund-raising events the church puts on to bring in some money for Relay.

The first is scheduled for Saturday, April 11. That’s the seventh annual Traditional Bluegrass and Classic Country Music Show held each year at the Proctorville Bingo Hall, State Route 775.

This is the brainchild of Greasy Ridge church member Lucian Carter, whose wife, Charlotte, beat cancer.

“He was wanting to have some kind of fund-raiser and he was talking Bluegrass to Bobby Maynard,” Floyd said.

Maynard is the 2008 West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.

That chat led to Maynard coming back year after year to Proctorville. This time he will be joined by some of his students, past and present, for a night of music.

“The thing about Bluegrass people, they don’t necessarily have a set,” Floyd said. “When somebody is ready, they step up and start to play. I am real excited about this year. There will be some students 10 years and older.”

That means the show may start at 6 p.m., but when the last act finishes may be anybody’s guess.

“A lot of community people come to support Relay for Life and then there are people who drive the distance because they love Bluegrass,” Floyd said.

The next Saturday, April 18, will be the Vesuvius Challenge, a 4-mile walk/run or 1-mile fun walk open to men, women and children from 9 and under to 70 and over age groups.

Entry fee prior to April 1 is $15; at race day it is $20.

Then on Saturday, April 25, at 6 p.m. will be the annual dinner and auction the church hosts. The event will be at the VFW in Proctorville with a menu of baked steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, slaw, rolls, dessert and drink. Price is $8. The dinner will be followed with an auction of sports collectibles, food items and golf items.

Usually these three events bring in about $15,000 for the Relay.

For more information about the Vesuvius Challenge, contact Susan Runyon at (740) 643-1401 or Amy Kline at (740) 532-0890.