It's time to spread her wings.
After five years as the co-chair of Relay For Life, 10 years as a teacher at Thomson Middle School and 20 years of living in Thomson, Peggy Willis will move to Springfield, Ga., later this summer.
"I'm just enlarging my territory and changing scenery," Ms. Willis said after the closing ceremony of the Relay For Life. "I'm trying to open as many doors as I can. I know God has a plan, and that doors have not opened for nothing."
Ms. Willis has already secured a job teaching computer classes at Effingham County Middle School. She also hopes to explore some new territory that the county's location provides, including possible sky diving lessons, earning her doctorate degree in education, meeting new friends and growing a home business.
"I may not meet all of these goals, but I know I will spend the next year or so trying to discover what else God has planned for my life," she said. "I'm so excited about the potential for personal growth in this move. Even the sky isn't the limit."
With her total involvement in, and enthusiasm for, so many different "improving the quality of life projects" in the community, Ms. Willis said people may not realize how big her calling to move on can be.
"I've been restless for years," she said. "But I've always tried to be the best person I could be."
Her first encounter with McDuffie County's Relay For Life was in 2000, when she signed up for Thomson Middle School's team to walk for one hour in memory of her aunt, Bettye Cowart Works, who died from breast cancer.
"After I did it, I said 'I don't ever want to miss this again,'" she said. "It's not just the big community party and sleep over, but the symbolism of the whole thing. Honoring all the people who have died, and celebrating all those who haven't, and working to prevent more from being affected."
After her walk that night seven years ago, Ms. Willis said she and her family went out to eat, then decided to return to the Relay for the luminary ceremony, in which she'd had a luminary placed with her aunt's name.
"We'd walk a lap, then cry, then walk a lap, then laugh," she said. "When you see something that significant and you are a part of it, then you want to be a part of it more. It's not jumping on the bandwagon, it's so much more. Not something you just half-heartedly do, but you put your whole heart and soul into it."
The next two years, Ms. Willis was team captain for TMS, after which she became the co-chair of the entire Relay with then-Thomson Mayor Bob Knox, Jr.
"I do this for Aunt Bettye," she said solemnly.
Although she doesn't know yet if she will be involved in Effingham's Relay For Life, or choose something else, Ms. Willis said she hopes many more people will get involved in the local one.
As she sat in the middle of the almost deserted field last Saturday morning, Ms. Willis enjoyed watching others who were working. She praised the City of Thomson employees who came to take down the tents and clean up the area.
"Our city is top notch, it's amazing to watch them work here," she said. "They get it all up and then back down like clock work."
As if in a philosophical mood, Ms. Willis said we are all like worker bees going through life, trying to make an impact where we can. It was then that she saw Vicki Bonner cleaning up after the Relay, picking up trash.
"I wish more people would realize that they can do so much, whether it's serving in a leadership position or picking up trash," she said. "Anybody can pick up trash, but they don't. Anybody can be a leader for Relay For Life, but you have to be willing to give of yourself. Yes, it's hard work, but the joy it gives you and the blessings you get in return are tenfold. It's like me giving a dollar and getting a million back. In my heart, I'm overflowing. O-ver-flow-ing."
Ms. Willis let the memories of blessings from Relay spill over as she continued to talk. She told of many she'd met and been inspired by, many who had passed on and she mused over the impact her work had on others.
"During opening ceremonies, I said that Relay is about relationships and making a difference in those around you ... in every soul you come in contact with every single day," she said. "If I could leave a legacy, if I could challenge people, I would tell them to be a blessing, be a beacon of hope. You can survive whatever junk you are going through. We need to just be a blessing."
