The annual Rhododendron Festival of Jefferson County not only includes days of activities, but also coincides with a number of events organized by other community groups, and this year, the Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary was unable to stage its annual “Running of the Balls.”

“This would have been the 13th annual Running of the Balls,” said Lois Sherwood, of the Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary. “We were forced to take a one-year pause this year, because when we needed to be planning and approaching sponsors for this event in February and March, our small club was plagued with illnesses.”

The Running of the Balls actually managed to weather the COVID pandemic, as Sherwood explained that winning balls were selected through a bingo cage tumbler in 2020, rather than by being rolled down the hill on Monroe Street, while in 2021, the Rotary reserved Monroe Street independently of the canceled Rhody Fest Grand Parade, and attendees still lined the street.

In the long run, however, Sherwood speculated that the pandemic might have contributed to the Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary experiencing a diminished membership in COVID’S wake, to the point that all it took was a string of unrelated illnesses, running through enough of the club’s more active members, to prevent essential preparations from being made for the Running of the Balls to take place.

“This is an event with about a hundred different moving parts, and without the planning and preparation for sponsorships and ticket sales, it’s hard to pull it off successfully,” Sherwood said. “We had two members come down with pneumonia, and others caught the Port Townsend ‘crud.’ Especially if you have kids, it’s not difficult for random infections to pass on to you.”

By March, Sherwood said it had become clear to club members that the event would not be feasible this year, given the need for prep work such as posters and arrangements with farmers’ markets still undone.

Fortunately for fans of the Running of the Balls, Sherwood expressed confidence that the event would be ready to return in 2026, thanks to what she deemed a relatively recent resurgence in the club’s membership.

“We’ve had a boom of new members, and they’re very interested in bringing back the Running of the Balls,” Sherwood said. “They’ve brought a real creative energy with them as well. Believe me, nobody wants the Running of the Balls to go away. It’s one of those events where we have a lot of fun with it.”

Over the past 12 years, the money the club has raised from local sponsorships for the Running of the Balls, and by selling tickets for the numbered golf balls, has provided picture dictionaries for third-grade students across Jefferson County, funded the Rotary International Youth Exchange program, awarded academic and vocational scholarships, and served local needs including foster family support, Olympic Neighbors and senior programs. Last year also saw the club add scholarships for youth participating in performing arts, in memory of longtime member Consuelo
Aduviso Brennan.

Regardless of how much money is raised by the Running of the Balls, Sherwood appreciates how engaged the community has always been with the event.

“It’s consistently been our biggest annual fundraiser, and everyone who shows up to watch is part of it,” Sherwood said.