The memories of two Cherokee County women who lost their lives to cancer will be memorialized next week.

The American Cancer Society Cherokee chapter's Love Lights A Tree ceremony, which raises money for cancer research and education, is at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 at Cannon Park on the square in downtown Canton.

Every year, the annual ceremony is dedicated to a person or people who recently died after battling cancer. This year's honorees are Dianne DeBord and Sandra Queen.

The tree, which again will be donated by the Davis Tree Farm in Keithsburg, is a 27-foot-Leland Cypress.

It will be decorated with ornaments purchased by making a donation of $15 or more to the American Cancer Society. The ornaments can be dedicated in memory or in honor of a loved one affected by cancer.

At the ceremony, which is free to attend, Tim and Pam Cavender of Ball Ground will appear as Santa and Mrs. Claus, Linda Buchanan will sing and students from the Academy of Dance Arts in Canton will perform. Guests are invited to bring cameras to take photos with Santa at no charge.

Light refreshments of cookies and hot chocolate will also be served.

Artist Brenda Harris Tustian of Ball Ground has donated one of her Santa prints, "Thank Heaven for Little Boys," to raffle off at the event. Raffle tickets are $5 each or six tickets for $25.

Gayle Johnson, the ceremony's co-chairwoman, said the society hopes to raise $10,000 through this year's event. Last year, $8,000 was raised through donations.

"We know it's high with the economy the way it is, but we are shooting for it anyway," she said of the goal.

Mrs. DeBord of Waleska died in February after a 10-year battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma. A cancer of the lymphatic system, the disease compromises the body's ability to ward off infections as it progresses.

Mrs. Queen of Canton died in September 2008 after a two-year battle with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

Committee member Donna Chandler said both women were well-loved and respected in the community.

Courtney DeBord, the daughter of the late Mrs. DeBord, said she was honored to hear her mother was selected to be one of this year's honorees.

"I'm glad she'll be remembered like this," she said.

Courtney, who graduated from Cherokee High School in May, during her senior year raised money for other cancer patients.

For her senior project, she organized a fundraiser to pay the parking fees for patients being treated at Atlanta's Northside Hospital's Bone Marrow Transplant Program.

She raised more than $12,000 for the initial project, which she called Park For A Cure. She's still accepting donations for the program, which can be made at any United Community Bank location in Cherokee County.

Courtney said her mother was making great strides in fighting the cancer, but the medications she was taking were "too much for her body."

Through it all, Courtney said her mother remained strong.

She said she hopes many people in the community support Love Lights and the cancer patients it benefits.

"There are so many things cancer patients have to undergo, such as not only how they are going to beat the disease, but how they are going to pay for it," she said.

Bill Queen of Canton, area director for the Cherokee County Fellowship of Christian Athletes, said he is honored his wife was selected as an honoree.

Queen said his wife was active with First Baptist Canton and loved exercising, tennis, aerobics, walking and doing yard work.

"She was very positive and encouraging," he said of her demeanor during her battle. "She made a difference in society."

Mrs. Queen's cancer was in her pelvic bone near her left hip. She received treatments at Emory University in Atlanta and at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Centers in Houston, Texas, and Orlando, Fla.

Queen said he hopes the Love Lights event raises awareness as well as funds.

"I hope this creates an awareness of a disease and how it impacts families," he said.