Organizers and volunteers are busily preparing for two of the most festive community events in Queen Anne: the 30th-annual Queen Anne Days and Fun Run, on July 13.
The day features a packed schedule, starting with the Crown of the Hill Queen Anne Helpline Fun Run & Walk at 8 a.m., followed by the Queen Anne Merchants’ sidewalk sale, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The children’s parade will take place at 11 a.m., and the day will conclude with a barbecue at the community center (1901 First Ave. W.), from noon to 3 p.m.
Craig Wilson has been organizing the event since January, recruiting a grass-roots network of volunteers from different factions of Queen Anne.
Wilson said, “On Queen Anne Day, 30 years ago, there were many different events put on by different groups, like the merchants, Helpline and the community center, so we opted to merge them all together under the banner of Queen Anne Day. We have volunteers from the community center, Queen Anne Dispatch, the merchants group and many other places that have taken on different portions of the day.”
Fun Run co-chair Susan Belanich said, “We probably spend about 20 hours a week each in order to put this event on.”
The Fun Run volunteers start by mailing out letters to businesses requesting their sponsorship, and from there, promotion starts with signs, Facebook and news articles, she explained.
Then, by May 1, they design and print the T-shirts and start the on-line sign-ups.
Come June, they work the farmers market every week, until the Fun Run happens.
Fifteen volunteers are delegated with the tasks of gathering food and water donations, publicizing the event, assembling the team of 50 crosswalk guards and mapping the route of the 3.3-mile run.
“It’s a neighborhood event, so it’s put on by people of the neighborhood,” Belanich said.
Celebrating the community
The reward for all this work is the money raised for a good cause. Entry fees for the Fun Run benefit the Queen Anne Helpline, a nonprofit that provides temporary financial and basic-needs assistance to Queen Anne residents. Last year alone, Helpline helped more than 300 people avoid eviction with rent and utility assistance. It’s fitting that this year’s Queen Anne Day slogan is “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.”
To help with the large crowd expected at this year’s event, Wilson noted, there are about 100 volunteers working the day of the event — ranging from crossing guards, to medics, to business owners, to police escorts.
“We’re preparing for 600 people: 600 Boy Scouts, Brownies, Cub Scouts, Blue Birds, Little Leaguers, school-band members, clowns, parents and other assorted Queen Anne residents,” Wilson said of the anticipated turnout. “The idea is to come out and celebrate Queen Anne and all the wonderful people, businesses and organizations we have…. It’s a lot of the little things people donate, like the art for the T-shirt or a tip on a local band to play during the barbecue.”
On-line registration is available at www.queenannehelpline.org. Registration is also available at the Queen Anne Helpline office (311 West McGraw St.). For more information, visit www.qachamber.org.
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