What was she thinking? Why would a woman with a very demanding job, in the middle of a challenging economy, decide to chair one of Sevier County’s biggest fundraisers? Tennessee State Bank’s Robin Kurtz tells SevierCountyNews.com why she did it.

Robin Kurtz, AVP, Marketing Director for Tennessee State Bank, had enough on her plate already with work and personal commitments, but some thoughtful (?) friends thought she would make an excellent chair for the 2010 Relay for Life benefiting the American Cancer Society.

Robin Kurtz. Photo by Laura Long.

“I think they fibbed when they told me it would require about one hour a week,” Kurtz says, laughing. “It’s more like one hour a day.”

Those thoughtful friends, Terri Newman and Wayne Knight, are past chairs of the Sevier County event that is ranked number three in the Relay for Life fundraising efforts statewide. Although Kurtz had never even been on a steering committee for Relay before (a typical prerequisite) they urged her to become the “team captain for team captains” and give it a try.

“I asked my husband Mike for his support first, because I knew it would require a lot of time,” Kurtz said. “He was all for it. Then I asked (TSB president) Todd (Proffitt) and he said if it was something that I wanted to do I should do it.”

Kurtz herself is a 21-year cancer survivor, and adds that three employees at Tennessee State Bank have been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last year.

“Everybody knows somebody who is touched by this disease,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that Relay for Life started with just one guy taking pledges in his community and has now grown to be a widespread national event to raise funds for cancer research.”

She has her work cut out for her. Her goal is to raise $340,000; in 2009, the event raised $321,000. She also hopes to have 55 rally teams for the camp out festival that will take place May 21-22, 2010. She wants to see 150 survivors participate in the walk of hope, a celebratory trip around the relay track at Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge.

Relay held a kickoff event October 20, Kurtz said, and announced that the theme this year would be “Happy Birthday.” Because of advances made in cancer treatment through research, many more people have enjoyed having more birthdays and enjoying more years of life.

Relay For Life has a reputation for being one of the wildest, weirdest, most fun festivals in Sevier County. It will be interesting to see how rally teams play around with this year’s “birthday” theme.

Persons interested in becoming involved can contact Kurtz at 865-908-5789. Teams can register online at www.relayforlife.org/seviertn