In support of Breast Cancer Awareness the Bessemer Tax Assessor’s Office has gone pink. “When Commissioner Brown sent a memo to say that the courthouses would be going pink; that was all we needed to start decorating. And with Halloween right around the corner it gave us a double reason to come up with a plan,” said decorating coordinators, Amy Bogue, Janet Bell, Rickey Davis and Quin Hameen.
The staff worked together to come up with the idea to incorporate the two holidays. So how do you related Breast Cancer Awareness with Halloween…you scare it away! So ghosts, scary jack-o-lanterns and skulls set the tone to “boo” away the disease.
“We wish that it was as easy as that to run breast cancer away. But since we can’t, we wanted to do something to let survivors know that we support them,” said the trio as they continued. “We know that with much prayer and continued research, this disease will be defeated! But in the meantime we wanted to encourage people to stay strong in the fight.”
A second feature is a wall that supports the Susan B. Komen Race. It depicts the start of the marathon and even includes a casualty that falls as she takes off from the starting line of the race. The walls also include starbursts that list the names of family, friends, church members etc., of the staff who are survivors and a special memorial to those who have finished the race of life.
“I had a customer who asked about our decorations and I immediately pointed to our blue ribbon from a contest sponsored by the Bessemer Chamber of Commerce for Christmas decorations,” said assessment clerk Teresa Defnall. “So when I explained to her that we were preparing something for breast cancer, she asked if we could include her sister’s name. Of course we were more than happy to make a spot for her on our wall. We just wanted to do something to make people feel good.”
The Assistant Tax Assessor’s Office is located on the 2nd floor of the Bessemer Courthouse. Andrew Bennett is the elected department head.
