Rockingham Library board seeks nominees; teams form for July 18 Race for Cure

The Rockingham Library’s Board of Trustees currently has a vacancy, and is looking for nominees. The Rockingham Select Board will appoint the new trustee after receiving nominations from the library board. The appointee will then serve until the next annual Town Meeting in March 2016, when a permanent trustee will be elected for a 3-year term.

This is an opportunity for someone to contribute to the community for a short period of time, before considering running for a permanent position.

The board consists of nine members who oversee library policies and operations. Regular meetings are held at 6:15 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month, with additional committee meetings as needed.

Anyone who would like to apply is asked to send a letter of interest by June 19, to the library director, Celina Houlne, at Rockingham Free Public Library, 65 Westminster St., Bellows Falls, VT 05101. For more information call 802-463-4270.

Teams forming for Vermont Race for the Cure

Year in and year out, the teams that take part in the Komen Vermont Race for the Cure, a 5k walk and a 5k or 10k run to benefit Susan G. Komen VT-NH, account for the lion’s share of donations brought in during the event. This year’s race takes place Saturday, July 18, at its new venue, Riley Rink at 410 Hunter Park Road in Manchester.

Team Kinney Motors at last year’s Komen Vermont Race for the Cure. Jane Sobel Klonsky photo.

“Teams really are vital to the success of the race, because they fund-raise above and beyond the entry fee,” said Linda Maness, the affiliate’s longtime teams chair. “We generally field around 40 teams of all different sizes. Some have a handful of members, some 50 – we’ve had teams of 100 in the past.”

“Captains and their teammates often go the extra mile by raising $100, $1,000, or even $5,000 by race day through pre-race fundraising,” Maness said. “The top fundraisers in each division (Corporate, Education, Community, Family and Friends, Health Organizations and Religious) are recognized at the closing ceremonies and are given an award. So they compete against each other, really, for divisional bragging rights.”

“Forming a team is easier than you’d think, especially online,” said Maness. “Either a group decides to form a team and picks a captain, or an individual captain registers themselves and a team name, and starts rounding up team members. That’s pretty much it.”

Those who would like to be on a team but can’t attend the event can register as a ‘Virtual Runner.’ It can all be done online at komenvtnh.org, or with a paper application.”

Using the online registration system, team captains have tools to send group email updates, follow-up with team members, keep track of their numbers and receive pledges.

Entry fees are $35 for timed runners and walkers; $30 for timed or untimed Survivors, untimed runners and walkers, and Virtual Runners; $20 for Students 12 and under running in the 5k or 10k events, and $15 for kids running in the Fun Run.

Seventy-five percent of all money raised at the race underwrites breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in Vermont and New Hampshire while the remaining 25 percent is dedicated to breast cancer research.

Captains of teams with 20 or more members may pick up race bibs and T-shirts (unless the team designs and prints their own shirts, which many choose to do) for pre-race distribution by July 14. Team members must be registered by 5 p.m., Friday, July 17. Teams with smaller rosters usually have participants pick up their packets individually on the day prior to the Race, Friday, July 17, or on Race Day morning—Saturday July 18, at the Teams Table.

For more information call 802-362-2733 or visit online at komenvtnh.org. For more information, visit www.komen.org or call 1-877-GO-KOMEN.