Of all events organized to raise funds to battle disease, the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life is unique insofar as it is held overnight, rather than during the day.

While supporting the first such event to be hosted by the society’s local unit, Mono Council has decided not to lift the town’s noise bylaw to accommodate the music which will accompany the teams that will come to the Orangeville Fairgrounds on June 11 to walk or run a specific course around the fairgrounds between 7 p.m.and 7 a.m.

Lynn Lowe, the relay’s cochair, appeared before council Tuesday on behalf of the cancer society with a request that the bylaw be waived in this particular instance, where participants will be up all night in observance of the fact “cancer never sleeps.”

Deputy Mayor Ken McGhee supported the event but, like the rest of council, would not go so far as to waive the bylaw. “This will impact large number of people,” he said. “I would like to see it go ahead, but with a lot less noise.”

He was most concerned about residents of the Island Lake area, pointing out that the lake has “an amplifying effect.”

The Relay of Life will have music starting at 5 p.m. Friday, June 11. There will be a variety of performers – including jazz, church choir and soft rock bands – starting at approximately 7:30 p.m. and changing over to a disc jockey at around midnight.

The organizers expect the maximum decibel level to be between 90 and 100 when the bands are playing to help motivate the relay participants. (The higher the decibel level, the louder the noise. Sounds louder than 80 decibels are considered potentially hazardous.)

There will also be a jumbotron on site. Most of the time it will be silent with images of Relay and cancer society messaging, but they are considering showing a movie around 2 a.m.

Council expressed its concerns about setting a precedent for other groups who would ask to have the noise bylaw waived.

“I’m not in favour of repealing our noise bylaw altogether,” said Councillor Laura Ryan. “It leaves too much open.”

Still, deciding it was a noble cause, council said it was behind the event, except that they will try to find a compromise where the relay can be staged with a noise level that will be acceptable to everyone.