As Rhododendron Festival events proceeded throughout the week, the Trike Races on Wednesday, May 15, saw a lower turnout than expected, according to Lois Sherwood.

Only about half of the anticipated 75 participants showed up, while most of the spectators remained parents, grandparents and siblings.

“I think the transition from trikes to striders is changing how people think about the race,” Sherwood said. “Last year, despite our efforts, striders rode with the trikes. It was hard to tell children at the finish line that they hadn’t won, so there were some hard feelings.”

This year’s races put the striders at the end, Sherwood was surprised to see zero trikes in the 2-years-and-younger category, but several striders, while the 5-6 years category drew “a bunch of bikes” with training wheels, and “only a couple of trikes.”

Rita Hubbard informed The Leader that Makayla Rosbach won this year’s Pet Parade on Thursday, May 16, among a field that included dogs, rabbits, goats, chickens and one horse, while Jan Carter noted that the Kiddies Parade, which took place on Friday, May 17, has consistently drawn around 600 participants for the eight years she’s chaired the event.

The queen’s Court Favorites included Connor Ryan, Paityn Ryan and Easton Decen, while Dylan Kinney won first place in the “Disney and Storybook” category, and Aidan and Nathan (for whom no last names were available) won first and second place, respectively, in the “Superheroes” category.

In the “Original and Unique” category, Kate Larson, Evelyn Larson and Charlotte Shenmacker won first through third place, respectively, while New Day Learning Academy and Salish Coast Elementary each won first place for the “Private Grade School” and “Public Grade School (K-1)” categories, respectively.

The Kiddies Parade’s “Pre-School” category placed the Little Wings Preschool first, the Cedarbrook Early Learning Center second and Mrs. Moug’s Empty Nest third, while its “Public Grade School (2-4)” category placed Don Halquist first, the Salish drum group second and OPEPO (OPtional Education PrOgram) third.

The Kiddies Parade’s awards were rounded out with the “Miscellaneous Youth Groups” category, in which Twisters Gymnastics placed first, the Calvary Community Church second and Kelle’s Gym third.

“It was chaotic, but fun as usual,” Carter said.

Moving onto the “Running of the Balls” on Saturday, May 18, Sherwood pointed out it’s a fundraiser “with many moving parts,” including soliciting and recognizing sponsors, getting street permits, selling raffle tickets, sorting the numbered golf balls, preserving the chain of custody on the event day’s equipment, running the event and clearing the parade route within one hour.

Because the Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary is coping with diminished club numbers, the Port Townsend Noon Rotary volunteered farmers’ market booth staffers and personnel to set up and take down the track that day.

“If any one of these pieces is dropped, the whole thing falls apart,” said Sherwood, who also credited the participation of parade spectators along the route with redirecting all the golf balls that jumped the track back onto the track, so that three balls make it into the catch trap at the bottom, and cash winners can be announced.

“We come together as a community, working and laughing together, as we raise money that goes back into the community, supporting youth programs, Rotary’s international initiatives and our local Rotary youth exchange,” Sherwood said.

Carlene Dahlman won first prize, Michael Glenn won second prize and Shawna Alpdemir won third price.

Dahlman wrote the names of her children on the backs of her tickets, and her winning daughter requested that her prize money be returned to the community, so a donation of $1,000 was made to the Consuelo Aduviso Brennan performing arts scholarship fund.

The Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary has raised and donated $2,500 to the Key City Public Theatre to date to provide scholarships for children who might otherwise not be able to attend their workshops and camps.

“Consuelo was passionate about the power of theater to heal children,” Sherwood said. “While she’s no longer with us to do that work, we do our bit to see it gets done.”

The Brennan family had pitched in together to purchase 100 red balls for the “Colored Ball Challenge.”

The Jefferson Healthcare “Rhody Run” drew close to 900 runners on Sunday, May 19, with ages spanning from 2-82 for the 10K, and from 2-90 for the 5K.

In the 10K, Seamus Fraser finished first overall and among men at 33:39.87, while Larissa Kolasinski finished seventh overall and first among women at 38:05.2, out of 488 runners.

In the 5K, Stuart Howard-Smith finished first overall and among men at 19:36.91, while Josie Axling finished eighth overall and first among women at 24:58.31, and Diana Robbins finished 118th overall and first among non-binary runners at 38:06.49, out of 388 runners.