The Vashon-Maury Island Chamber of Commerce is deep in the planning of the 2011 Strawberry Festival, scheduled for July 15, 16 and 17. This annual festival, now in its 102nd year, brings an estimated 20,000 off-Island visitors to experience Vashon and all the wonderful things this quaint and quirky little Island has to offer.
In 2010, 44 percent of the booths at the festival belonged to an Island business, artist or nonprofit, the highest percentage in the recent history of the festival. What a great introduction to Vashon those booths offered our off-Island visitors! We at the chamber hope that once those visitors have been here for the festival, they’ll want to come back again, when things are a bit calmer and they can revisit the places they want to explore more thoroughly or didn’t have time to get to. Sustainable business and a shop-local-first attitude are our goals, and while I know that many Islanders feel that tourism is nothing to be touted or promoted, it’s simply necessary in order to support our Island businesses.
Last year, however, we reached an all-time low in the number of community volunteers who came out to support the festival. I will never forget the vision of Dick Bianchi alone in the Windermere parking lot taking down tents Saturday evening and the couple walking along the highway who came to help him, just because they were kind.
Our Strawberry Festival is indeed the chamber’s largest fundraiser of the year, but it also supports our community in ways that are perhaps not immediately obvious but ultimately important and tangible. It brings visitors to the Island who will hopefully return to spend their time and money here. It brings families together from far and near — children returning home with children of their own because they wouldn’t dream of missing the festival. It’s their community, their home, their festival. It’s an opportunity for everyone to learn what important work the Island’s nonprofit organizations are doing and a time to savor the local talent that is so incredibly abundant here.
A recent article in the Port Townsend Leader concerning its community’s Rhododendron Festival, which is facing a lack of funds and volunteers, asked “where is the chamber?” —indicative of the community feeling that the Chamber of Commerce should be the first in line to support a community festival. Here on Vashon, your chamber is front and center, but it should be noted that our staff of two and board of 13 cannot make this festival happen without the help and support of our community.
To those of you who have already signed up to help or have written those sponsorship checks, my gratitude for you is overwhelming. Now it’s time for the greater community to come back to the Strawberry Festival and lend a hand: Pitch a tent, greet a visitor, help monitor the parade route for safety, staff a booth for a nonprofit, help the vendors find their booth space when they arrive or chair a committee. There are many roles waiting to be filled. We need you to help our Island put on a spectacular Strawberry Festival, knowing that by doing so you’re helping our community thrive.
— Patricia McClements, who manages Puget Sound Energy’s customer service center on Vashon, chairs the Vashon-Maury Island Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
To find out about volunteer opportunities at the Strawberry Festival or to sign up, please contact the Chamber office at 463-6217.
