By Staff
A TRIBUTE TO COURAGE – Brenda Stokley, left, shows a tribute quilt she made to other members of Super Stop's Relay for Life team Tena Pickard, Susan Hawkins and Janice Deweese. Stokley has five family members represented on the quilt. Photo by Carisa McCain / The Meridian Star
By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
June 1, 2002
For Super Stop employees, September was a month of great loss not only because thousands of Americans died in terrorist attacks, but because they lost "Mr. D."
Glen Deweese, owner of the Super Stop convenience store chain, died of cancer on Sept. 27.
She has worked at Super Stop for five years. She and Tina Pickard, an employee for four years, have been involved in Super Stop's Relay for Life teams since they began working for the company.
This year, to commemorate the theme of the local Relay for Life campaign, "United We Stand, Together We Walk," and to honor those who have fought battles with cancer, Stokley made a tribute quilt.
What the quilt means
The red, white and blue quilt is patched with 35 names of family members of Super Stop employees who are either fighting cancer or have passed away from it.
Names in red squares on the quilt signify cancer patients who are still in the fight. The names in blue squares are dedicated to the memory of people who have died.
Stokley finished the quilt on Thursday.
The quilt will be on display June 7-8 during Relay for Life at Meridian High School's Ray Stadium. After the event, the quilt will hang in Super Stop's main office on Old Highway 80 West.
Employees who wanted the names of their loved ones placed on the quilt made a $10 contribution. Tina Pickard, Super Stop's Relay for Life team captain, had her father's name put on the quilt. She lost an uncle to cancer and her father is fighting it.
Wrestling up a cure for cancer'
Super Stop employees are looking forward to the Relay for Life festivities. Because of their closeness, the event is like a family reunion, Pickard said.
Two Super Stop teams will be set up in camp together for the all-night Relay for Life affair. The teams are competing in the midnight snack competition, but they haven't decided what they will prepare.
The Super Stop camp's theme this year is "Wrestling up a Cure for Cancer." They will have a sumo wrestling ring set up and huge, soft, sumo wrestler costumes people can wear either have their picture made, wrestle, or both. Pictures will cost $3 a person, a picture and wrestling match with a friend will cost $5 a person. Proceeds will go to the Relay for Life campaign.