Relay For Life of Boyertown has invited businesses to participate in "Paint the Town Purple," a promotional activity through May and June to remind community members of the upcoming relay that is going to take place on June 26-27 at Boyertown Area High School's stadium from noon on Friday to noon on Saturday.
"Our biggest focus is letting people know the relay will be in town," said Relay For Life of Boyertown event coordinator Angi Scheetz. "We really want people to support the event and have a good time."

One of the business owners that showed a lot of interest was Frank Morgan, president of Morgan Financial, Scheetz said.

Morgan said that he wants to hang a banner on the side of Morgan Financial's building which is located at 113 East Philadelphia Ave. in Boyertown.

"I want to get involved because I've known several people that have suffered from cancer," he said. "I want to support the local community. This is just another wonderful event where people come together."

Relay publicity chairman Jim Davidheiser said that last year's relay raised more than $120,000 for American Cancer Society efforts.

"Every contribution large and small is very significant," Davidheiser said.

The next planning meeting will be at 7 p.m., Monday, May 4, at the Boyertown Borough Hall Community Room.

For more information about Relay For Life of Boyertown, e-mail jhdcom@comcast.net or call 610-367-1823.

The Daniel Boone School District is also holding a Relay for Life this year for the first time. It's relay will be held June 12-13 starting at 6 p.m. and running until 6 a.m. Currently 19 teams are signed up for the Boone Relay. The next meeting is May 21 at 5:30 p.m. in Room B4 at the high school.

For more information on the Daniel Boone High School Relay, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=19446

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If you're wondering about the safety of sending your children to school during the outbreak of swine flu (H1N1), local school districts understand, and are preparing for any cases.
Owen J. Roberts announced on its Web site that its school nurses have met to review procedures for handling swine flu and is advising all families of children in the district to take necessary precautions to avoid the spread of infection, including the classic: handwashing.
Daniel Boone issued a letter to parents that is available on its Web site.
The school district says it will monitor absenteeism and health room visits to detect a possible outbreak, has installed hand sanitizers outside all its school cafeterias, and will remind students and staff about basic precautions and ways to prevent spread of infections.
Also alerting parents about prevention measures through letters were Boyertown and Perkiomen Valley, which sent their notices out Friday and Thursday, respectively.
As of Friday, four cases of unconfirmed swine flu were reported in the state, none of them local school children.

On Monday, a second case of pertussis, also known as whooping cough was announced at Evergreen Elementary School in Collegeville. A letter from the administration said that a second-grader and fifth-grader were diagnosed with the illness.
According to the letter, all students will be monitored for signs of the illness and those showing signs should be tested.
"If your child comes down with cold symptoms that include a cough, he/she should be evaluated by his/her physician. Children with pertussis, if their
medical condition allows, may return to school (5) days after starting the antibiotics and must continue taking the antibiotics until completed," according to the statement from Principal Kimberly I Minor.
Parents are advised to check their child's vaccinations to make sure they have received one for Pertussis.
"The whooping cough, caused by a bacterium, occurs mostly in children less than five years old. The disease can be serious in children up to seven years of age and in those who are not or incompletely immunized against the disease. Bacteria are spread by inhaling infected droplets of a coughing or sneezing infected child or by direct contact with discharges from a running nose. Household members and "close" contacts sharing the same classroom as the infected child are at increased risk," the letter reads.
Symptoms of Pertussis are a runny nose and spells of coughing that persist and sometimes cause vomiting.
It is not the first case of pertussis in Montgomery County schools. In February, a student in Spring-Ford Intermediate School was diagnosed with the illness and reported on the school's Web site at the time.

In other local school news, a West Pottsgrove Elementary student is the only finalist from Pennsylvania in the National Missing Children's Day artwork competition, according to the Sanatoga Post. Fifty artists from 50 states were selected, each having created a poster for the 27th anniversary of National Missing Children's Day. Denisha Footman, a fifth-grader at West Pottsgrove, is waiting to hear the final decision, which will be announced today. If she is chosen, the grand-prize is a trip to Washington, D.C., with her parents and teacher.