Fighting off urge to sleep not easy during all-night fund-raiser
It was a little after 5 a.m. Saturday morning and Jared Parker was still walking. Considering he started around 11 hours earlier, his foot pain was understandable.
“If my feet didn’t hurt so bad, I would probably be in China right now,” Jared said. “I finally had to sit down.”
But Jared, 15, could at least boast he was up and walking at the end of this weekend’s Relay for Life fund-raiser at Nunley Stadium. That’s better than a lot of people who turned in their walking shoes for a sleeping bag during the all-night event that started at 6 p.m. Friday and didn’t end until 6 a.m. yesterday.
“I’m ready to get some sleep,” said Sara Rhoady, one of the many JV cheerleaders to participate.
Josh Ferrell overheard her comments and was proud to let everyone know he had stayed up all night and wasn’t tired at all.
“I feel like playing a game of football right now,” said Josh, who indicated his group, First Baptist Church, had raised about $10,000.
Sara didn’t take too kindly to Josh’s words. “I feel like flipping him over into that mud puddle right now,” she responded.
Some children made a valiant effort to stay up all night but couldn’t quite do it. At the River Park Hospital tent, 8-year-old Josh Crabtree was one of those people.
“He made it till about 4:40 a.m.,” said his mother, April Crabtree. Josh was curled up and sound asleep on a folding lounge chair, a red Spider-Man design still freshly painted on his face.
It was a similar scenario for 12-year-old Jared Underwood, who made it all the way till 5 a.m. before succumbing to the comforts of sleep.
Another person couldn’t remember if he fell asleep or not.
“I might have, but I don’t really know,” said Adam Green with the Seniors Fight Back group. “I laid down and I think I dozed off for a few minutes but I’m not really sure.”
Jim Bob Powell voiced a popular opinion at around 5:30 a.m.
“I want to go home, take a shower and go to bed,” he said.