Warren County’s Relay for Life, held May 13 at Vicksburg High School, saw more than 900 people take part to help the American Cancer Society raise money to defeat Cancer.

During a wrap-up meeting held Tuesday, Relay for Life and American Cancer organizers discussed the successes of the event, including the addition of eight new teams and hundreds of new participants, as well as areas that need further improvement, such as some logistical issues and parking.

“I can’t believe Relay has come and gone so quickly,” Megan McBeth, community manager for Relay for Life, said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We want to continue to improve our event. We want it to be the best it can be. We’re all here for the same purpose.”

So far this year, Relay has raised $33,000. McBeth said the Celebrity Waiter Dinner, planned for October at Ameristar, would be added to that total. Combined, she believes the two events will help reach Warren County Relay for Life’s overall goal.

In addition to announcing Celebrity Waiter’s return, those attending the wrap-up meeting, including members of the event organizing committee and some team captains, tentatively set next year’s event kickoff for January and discussed possible dates for next year’s Relay for Life.

“Ultimately, the committee makes the final decision, but of course, we also want input from everyone else,” McBeth said.

Organizers stressed the importance of recruiting new people to the event’s committee from the community and were appreciative of the public’s support at this year’s event.

“We’ve grown tremendously, and that’s what’s so important: the fact that Relay is so very important to other people who maybe haven’t had their lives touched by cancer or haven’t yet,” McBeth said. “That’s something very special about Vicksburg that you don’t see as much in other places: so much more of an outside crowd [comes], making it more of a community event. That’s something that Vicksburg should really be proud of.”

Jeannine Beatty, a member of the event’s committee, ended the meeting with words of encouragement for next year.

“I was so glad to see so many teams this year,” Beatty said. “Hopefully we can fix some of the bugs, and hopefully, we can pool local resources and work together to make this event better.”