Tennessee River Run kicks off
Published Friday, May 9
By L.A. Story Houry
Staff Writer

PICKWICK DAM, Tenn. -- Big goals and exciting new features were all part of the program at Darryl Worley's Tennessee River Run Kickoff Party. Now in its seventh year, Darryl Worley's Tennessee River Run will span two weekends instead of one -- making it more likely to reach the new monetary goals of the massive, charity fundraising event.

The higher reaching fundraising goal is to double the net profit of the annual event from $100,000 to $200,000, according to an announcement by Rendy Lovelady. Lovelady is half of Worley's new management duo that includes Lovelady and Tracy McGlocklin. Together they comprise RLM Management.

Lovelady said he and McGlocklin took on Worley -- as well as his interests -- when they took over as Worley's new management team. While the management duo may not have been with the Darryl Worley Foundation from the beginning, they appear to have embraced the causes that are near and dear to Worley's heart.

"We have come into this and truly caught the dream and the heart of the Worley Foundation. I have listened, and been blown away with the desire and drive Darryl has for his community," said Lovelady.

The push for bigger funding is largely being spurred by the impending ground breaking and construction of the new Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center. The project is an extension of The Darryl Worley Outpatient Chemotherapy Clinic -- a facility housed within the Hardin Medical Center in Savannah, Tenn. The development of this facility enabled cancer patients to be able to receive chemotherapy treatment without the long drive to Jackson, Tenn. or Memphis.

The new facility will be a separate building, but connected to the Hardin Medical Center. The vision for the Cancer Treatment Center is to offer both chemotherapy and radiation therapy to cancer patients in the region. Treatment Center CEO, Charlotte Burns, said she hopes to have a final time line and price for the project by May 22. She said the plan, at this point, is to break ground this fall and a projected opening date of August, 2009.

The new facility should be able to treat 15-20 radiation therapy patients per day and up to 30 chemo patients per day. Burns expressed her gratitude to Worley for his vision and his work, when she said, "Thank you so much for inspiring us to achieve something I never thought was possible."

This year's Tennessee River Run will have several new features added such as a "Battle of the Bands" to be held Sept. 5. The winning band will be the opening act for the renowned Saturday night concert. There will also be a "An Evening with Darryl Worley and Friends," on Sept. 11, in which a table for 10 can be reserved for $1,000 for catfish dinner with all the trimmings and a personal acoustic performance with Worley and some of today's successful songwriters.

There will be a good, ole rock concert on Friday, Sept. 12, that is separate and apart from the big Saturday night country concert. Finally, another addition, which Lovelady and McGlocklin feel has potential to become a tradition with TRR, is a final event to close the week out -- a Sunday praise/worship and family picnic. This year, Geron Davis is scheduled to perform.

Davis and his wife are well known for writing many inspirational songs including "Holy Ground" and "In the Presence of Jehovah." In addition to the news regarding the Tennessee River Run schedule, Worley talked about his new baby, his new management team and his new album. He played excerpts from three songs which will be on the album -- "Sounds Like Life," "Best of Both Worlds," and "Tequila on Ice" -- the latter is slated to be released June 15, and has a nice, easy-going feel to it.

Worley credited his new management team for giving him "a new, peaceful, unseen confidence." The singer went on to say the songs on his new album are "fun, light-hearted and more personal."

In the end, the Kickoff Party was about the Tennessee River Run and the Cancer Treatment Center. The cause is an emotional one for Worley, who has lost family members and friends to cancer. Sponsorships are always welcome and there are several different levels available.

Anyone interested in sponsorship opportunities may contact event coordinator Courtney Goolsby at sponsorship@tnriverrun.org or call The Darryl Worley Foundation, Inc. at 866-484-3877 for more information.

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