Lehigh was purple Friday

Diana Resinger and Liz Eilf, shown at right, prepare for Purple Plazooa Day in Lehigh at the Welcome Sign.
If you think Lehigh has turned purple today, Friday, Jan. 30,you have good reason to believe so. Purple balloons, purple signs and people wearing purple and even a giant purple stuffed animal sitting a wicker chair at entrance to Homestead Rd., off of Lee Blvd., all purple.
It’s all part of a promotion for the American Cancer Lehigh Relay for Life, which takes place in April. But volunteers are rounding up teams now for the upcoming relay.
Up and down Homestead Rd., purple balloons are tied to bushes, poles, signs and almost anything that doesn’t move, said Liz Eilf, a team member for the promotion. And the early morning rains didn’t slow anything down.
There’s more reason for this madness of purple everywhere you look. Lehigh is competing with other communities in Lee County to see who can be more purple, said Eilf. Purple is the recognized color for inspiration.
She and Diana Resinger, Lehigh Relay chairperson spent much of yesterday working to turn the town purple.
They spent considerable time Thursday decorating a sign at the turnoff from Lee Blvd. onto Homestead Rd. It’s the well-known big round welcome sign, known as the “cookie” that’s become a landmark for Lehigh.
“That’ll be the first lots of purple they may see and it should show up with the big sign, the big ape and all the purple decorations around the sign,” Eilf said.
Between 9 a.m. and noon, the judges were expected to arrive in Lehigh to see just how purple the community is. But the judge came to Lehigh a little earlier, Eilf said later.
“I hope we can win this one,” laughed Eilf. She said more than 150 balloons were filled with helium the night before and some of them may have been going limp by the time today arrived, but they are still out there in the wind blowing, she said. When the judge arrived in Lehigh, Eilf met her and gave her a dozen purple tulips.
It’s being called Purple Palooza Day and the Team Purple Waves were out in full force putting the purple balloons up and down Lee Blvd. and Homestead Rd.
There was purple hair, purple hats, and the giant purple ape at the Welcome Sign with some one there maybe waiving a purple balloon.
Following the judges to Lehigh today will be a local radio station and the winners of Purple Palooza Day will be announced later.
“Wouldn’t it be great if it were Lehigh,” Eilf said.
She said there is still time to get a team together and raise money to find a cure for cancer. The Lehigh Relay Walk will be April 24 and 25 at the Lehigh Senior High School track.
If you’re a cancer survivor, know cancer survivors, or someone who is interested in fighting to find a cure, you’re invited to form a team. To do that, call Resinger at 369-8033.
“We can pull this off and really raise a lot of money if we can get a lot of people interested. It’s a fight worth fighting for, to see cancer cured maybe in our lifetime,” Eilf said.
And a radio station will also be coming to Lehigh maybe to give the community some coverage.
“We will find out the winners later today,” Eilf said. “We’ll probably get a banner for the community if we win.”