Fayrene Sherritt
The start of the 20th annual Wagon Trail 5-K Run which was well attended with 260 participants.
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Fayrene Sherritt
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By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times Hope Correspondent
July 15 turned out to be a beautiful day in Hope for the 20th Annual Wagon Trail 5-k weekend. The clouds drifted apart late morning just in time for the start of the race. (3.5-mile race). The 260 runners left from in front of the Hope Social Hall, rounded the corner onto A Street and continued on up the Wagon Trail Road with the first racer to cross the finish line just a short time.
The Wagon Trail race has always been a family race with youngsters under 10 and oldsters in the 80’s all enjoying the event. This year was no different. The winner of the men’s race, Mark Strabel was close to the race record of 17.7 with his 19.6 finish and Rubeye Foldager won for the women with 22.48 for her time. There were several race favorites, just ask anyone along the race route who they were cheering them on but Hope resident, Walt Wilkens at 87, was the favorite of many. Walt finished the race with 1.02.04 for his time. He was ahead of many younger runners. John Chandler as the race sweeper finished behind the last runner at 11/2 hours after the start. Race results will be posted at the Hope Post Office and on the Hope Chamber web site www.advenalaska.com/hope Check the web site for a link to see the results.
The race began in 1997 to raise funds for Hope’s EMS Service. A husband and wife team, Flip and Patty Foldager, won the first race. Twenty years later their daughter Rubeye won the women’s race. Each year there has been a special T-Shirt to represent that year. Patty Foldager has a collection of all 20 years. Before the race began, a group of volunteers put on all the T-Shirts for a group photo. While standing next to Rubeye, I overheard her say that the shirt she was wearing (1997) went down below her knees…today it fits just fine.
Hope artist, Erica Miller, created the design for the T-Shirt and this year she modified if for the 20-year celebration. The dark blue and gold colors made a stunning combination.
Along with the race, and beginning in 1998, residents of Hope began to make a quilt to raffle. The first quilt was made to celebrate the 100 years from when gold was first discovered in Hope along Resurrection Creek. The different squares tell the story of Hope and its history. Due to its uniqueness the first quilt was donated to the Hope/Sunrise Museum where it still hangs to this day. A second quilt was made that year for the raffle winner.
As years went by more events were added to the weekend and it has become a fun family weekend raising funds for the non-profits of Hope. For 19 years Linda Graham was in charge of the race and the raffle. It was time for a much-needed break and a two-week trip to Iceland with her daughter filled the bill for her. A huge thank you for your many years of service!
Angie Motoyama and sister-in-law Gina Motoyama took on the task of organizing the events for this year. They could not have done it without the help from many fine folks. At risk of not mentioning someone’s name let me express, to everyone, a heartfelt thank you for a job well done!
After taking on the task to organize the weekend, Angie and Henry Motoyama’s daughter Ashley was badly hurt while riding on a 4-wheeler. This limited the time available for their efforts but in the true spirit of Hope, everyone stepped in to make sure this year’s fund raiser went off without a hitch.
The highlight of the weekend, and the last event to take place, was the great raffle drawing. Due to a late start in selling tickets 3242 of the 5000 were sold. This year there were 32 prizes to win. It seems that everyone had something they were hoping to win. Rocco Robilloto of Anchorage won this year’s quilt with the Remington rifle won by Seward resident Gary Blount and the Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun won by Flex Martinez of Anchorage/Hope. After winning the shotgun Flex presented the shotgun to his son-in-law who was there with his family. He was happy to accept it.
Dennis Samut donated the funds for the top five prizes and over the years those donations have added up to a large sum of money. Due to those top prizes, raffle ticket sales have provided much needed funding for the non-profits of Hope.
If Hope had a middle name it would be “volunteer”. So many times during the year the Hope volunteers turn out to make things happen here. The loving spirit that abides in the valley is felt by those who live here and the many who visit. That spirit is what makes Hope such a special place to live.