Help needed at Railroad Days

The 70th edition of Snoqualmie Railroad Days is almost here.

This is your chance to get involved and help support one of the grandest traditions in the Valley. The Snoqualmie Railroad Days Festival Team is seeking your support, talent, and expertise.

What’s your passion? We need assistance with the grand parade, event information booth, Children’s Field of Fun, vendor support, set up, clean up and much more. Whether you can chair a committee, lead an activity or help for an hour in the information booth, we need your help! Please consider giving some time to this worthwhile community event. It is, after all, your hometown festival!

Want to learn more? The next meeting of the Festival Team is 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 11, at the Snoqualmie Police Station, 34825 S.E. Douglas St.

Already know what you want to do? E-mail to sue@trainmuseum.org or call (425) 888-3030, ext. 203. 

Sue Van Gerpen

Snoqualmie Railroad Days Festival Team

Relay for Life is a community sport

If baseball is a team sport and golf is an individual sport, then Relay for Life is a community sport.

When I first heard of Relay for Life, I imagined a group of runners circling the track for 24 hours, passing a baton from runner to runner. While some teams do use a baton during the event, I soon learned that the real Relay for Life takes place out in our community during the months that lead up to the celebration laps, July 11 and 12.

I think many people in our community connect with Relay for Life because so many of us have been touched by the effects of cancer. Recently, I witnessed what seemed like the entire community taking a turn around the track in the form of a huge community garage sale. It started with Pirjo, Larry and Heidi DeHart offering to open up their travel business, CTT Destinations in Snoqualmie, as the site of our garage sale. Being active in the chamber, Pirjo soon had businesses such as the Salish Lodge donating thousands of dollars worth of merchandise to help our cause.

Hundreds of people poured in to get a bargain or have their car washed. Then, when they realized they were part of a team fighting cancer with their donations, they asked us to “keep the change” or would go home to bring us more stuff to sell. In just two days, a handful of students in our Key Club raised over $3,000.

The real lesson they learned was that when you want to make a real difference in your community, you have to get the whole community involved. We would like to personally thank the Kiwanis led by Dave Olson, the Salish Lodge, Nick Kurka and the Mount Si High School Horticulture program, Frankie’s Pizza, Ability Fencing, Carmichael’s True Value Hardware, Caroline Loudenback at Better Properties, Key Club Relay for Life members, and most of all, the community, for rallying behind our Relay for Life team.

However, if there was an MVP award for this event, it would go to CTT Destinations and the tireless DeHart family. They scored a home run for our community.

Joe Dockery

Mount Si High School teacher