The University of Maine at Presque Isle and the Wintergreen Arts Center are teaming up to present a very unique and fun-filled 5K fundraiser—the Color Presque Isle 5K, where participants will dress in white and get showered with colored powder throughout the course. The event, which serves as a benefit for the Northern Maine Center for the Cultural Arts, will be held on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 9 a.m. starting at Riverside Park. Registration begins at 8 a.m.
Proceeds from this exciting event—the first of its kind in The County—will be used to further the development of the Northern Maine Center for the Cultural Arts [NMCCA].
The establishment of this center will transform 149 State St. into the region’s very first facility dedicated to the visual arts, with the Wintergreen Arts Center on the first floor, UMPI’s Downtown Art Gallery on the second floor, and UMPI’s Art Studio Space on the third floor. For more details about this project, please visit www.umpi.edu/nmcca.
“The University of Maine at Presque Isle is delighted to be a part of this exciting event that not only provides a fun, family-friendly activity for the greater community, but also helps us in our efforts to bring even more arts-focused opportunities to the region,” President Linda Schott said. “We look forward to seeing many participants on August 24 and wish them a very colorful morning!”
Similar to other runs that have happened across the nation, this event involves volunteers dropping colored powder—it’s cornstarch-based, non-toxic and non-allergenic—on participants at various spots throughout the course. And, as if all that color weren’t enough, the Color Presque Isle 5K will offer lots of activities before, during and after the event to entertain participants and other attendees.
On the course itself, there will be water stop areas, sponsored by local businesses and staffed with teams of volunteers dressed up to reflect specific themes. Organizers also hope to have local musicians stationed along the course to provide music and motivation for 5K participants. In addition, local photographers will be taking photos throughout the course, which will be available for purchase afterward with proceeds to benefit the NMCCA. Selected photos will be featured in an exhibit this coming winter at the Wintergreen Arts Center.
Throughout the morning at Riverside Park, there will be lots of family-friendly events underway. The Maine Jump will provide inflatables and Daniels Ice Cream Truck will be on hand. TAMC, which is providing water for the event, will also have food on site, and Wintergreen volunteers will offer children’s activities such as face painting, glitter tattoos, buckets of bubbles, and a photo booth. Local artist Shawn Cote will be doing caricatures on site. Organizers will be accepting donations for the activities; caricatures will be $10 per person. All proceeds from these activities also go toward the NMCCA project.
Event organizers are looking for volunteers to cover the registration table, help with kids’ activities, prep and staff the route, and, of course, throw colored powder.
“We’re looking for about 75 to 100 volunteers, so we hope many community members will jump on board to help us pull off this amazing event,” Wendy Gilman-Zubrick, Wintergreen Arts Center Executive Director, said. “We already have close to 200 people registered to participate in our 5K, so this is going to be a fun and very busy day and we could use all the help we can get!”
To register as a volunteer, please visit www.umpi.edu/colorpresqueisle5k and click on Volunteer Sign-up. All are invited to attend a Volunteer Prep Meeting on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. at UMPI’s Campus Center. At that time, volunteers will be given their job duties for event day and get all their questions answered.
Sponsors for the event include MMG Insurance, Katahdin Trust Company, McCain Foods, Huber Engineered Woods, JoyFit, After the Bell, TAMC, Social Envy Image and Event Consulting, ReMax, Transformations Ministries, Presque Isle Downtown Revitalization Committee, and BalanceBPO.
Event organizers are asking participants to keep several things in mind ahead of the event. To get the most out of all that colored powder, participants are encouraged to wear white and may also want to consider wearing protective eyewear (swim goggles, sunglasses, etc.). This is not a timed event, so participants should feel free to take it at their own pace. Anyone attending the event is asked not to bring pets or bikes.
The registration fee is $30. Children under 10 are free. The registration fee includes a T-shirt for the first 200 registrants, a contribution to the Northern Maine Center for the Cultural Arts, and a color packet to use during the closing party. Course maps will be available at registration, which will be underway on Friday, Aug. 23 from 5-8 p.m. at Wintergreen, and on Saturday, Aug. 24 starting at 8 a.m. at Riverside Park. Register at www.umpi.edu/colorpresqueisle5k or in person at Star City Coffee in Presque Isle. For more information, please contact Wendy Zubrick at 551-5965.