The third Annual Cherry Blossom run took place on April 22, 2023 on the Rowley & Hawkins Fruit Farm in Basin City, WA. The weather was perfect for the 275 registered participants and their families as it was the prettiest day of the year, thus far.
The Blossom run features a 10K , 5K and a 1 mile course that weaves around and through the orchards and fields on the Basin City farm. There were runners, walkers, and riders of all ages.
Tom Hoiland of Connell, at the young age of 91, was the oldest runner and Grace and Lydia Fowers (MarciAnne Hawkins Fowers twin girls) were the youngest “riders” at 3 1⁄2 months from Bountiful, Utah. Everyone enjoyed the warm sunny day with no wind.
With orchards and cherry blossoms in the background, participants crossed the finish line. Some of the winners are pictured on page 8.
At the end of the race each participant was given a swag bag with goodies from the sponsors. A tasting table where participants could sample many different cherry products, including cherry pie, cherry juice, cherry lemonade, dried cherries, cherry salsa, apple sandwiches, yogurt covered dried cherries and chocolate covered dried cherries was set up near the finish line.
A “farmers market” booth featured apples, apple and cherry juice, jams, syrups, salsa, hazelnuts and asparagus. Several picnic tables were available to enjoy a great lunch, a visit and the beautiful day!
Cherry and duck water races for everyone to enjoy and three tether ball stands were enjoyed by many.
There were not many blossoms blooming this year because of our cool weather, but that didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits. Hay rides were given to go see some of the sweet cherry blossoms that were open and beautifully blooming.
The Rowley Hawkins expressed, “A Big Thank You to all the volunteers that helped make this a great event for all.”
