When the trailer the East Williston Fire Department used for hayrides broke two years ago, the village’s recreation committee knew it had to do something.
The hayrides were part of the firefighters’ annual fundraiser event that would take over East Williston’s Village Green every fall. Without the trailer, that event couldn’t happen.
“We just had to think of something else that could drum up some community spirit as well as give them a little bit of a fundraiser for them to still be the good volunteer fire department that we’ve known and loved,” recreation committee Chair Caroline DeBenedittis said.
The result was the inaugural Drumstick Dash 5K race, which wound its way through East Williston Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
About 80 runners and walkers showed up for the race, either paying $20 for early registration or $25 for later registration, DeBenedittis said.
While she was yet unsure how much money the run raised, DeBenedittis said she was “very surprised and very happy” with the turnout.
“I was expecting maybe 50, so when I saw that it was definitely over that I was thrilled,” she said.
DeBenedittis said many who came to the race complimented her and the others on how well organized it was compared to other Thanksgiving runs.
She credited that to the recreation committee’s experience putting on East Williston’s annual Memorial Day 5K for more than 30 years. That run attracts a few hundred village residents each year, she said.
The Drumstick Dash followed the same route as the Memorial Day race and similarly deployed firefighters and police officers to control traffic on Roslyn Road.
“I think that once it catches on and people know about it, we’ll have no issues getting that (participation number past 100 easily,” DeBenedittis said.
The first-place male and female finishers got trophies, and all of the first 20 runners to cross the finish line got medals. DeBenedittis said several firefighters were included in the top 20.
The recreation committee plans to continue the event with more publicity next year, DeBenedittis said, such as a banner on the Village Green and possibly sponsorships from local businesses.
Because it’s open to the public, she said she hopes the run will continue to attract many people from outside East Williston as well as village residents, many of whom go to the Thanksgiving Day race in Garden City.
“This makes it perfect so they can stay within our village and do it the next day,” DeBenedittis said. “Plus, they can run off all the food that they ate.”
