Hotels filling up for Runnin O’ the Green
January 25, 2013 at 12:32 am in The Jamestown Sun
While the temperature struggles to break zero here, organizers are already preparing for one of the biggest annual events in Jamestown the 35th Annual Runnin O’ the Green. Continue Reading
I would just like to remind everyone that this is an event for charity, so make sure to register, the money goes to a good cause. I would also like to bring to everyone’s attention that every single bar on the run does not donate even a single dime to the charity. I think its a disgrace that they are able to profit such large amounts of money on this day and not give anything to the charity that runs it. They are taking advantage of what should be a good thing and walking away with their pockets full, it is disgusting. I encourage everyone to demand the bars give at least 10% of their profits on that day (though it should be even more) to the charity. If they don’t, they shouldn’t even be allowed to be part of the official run and should be boycotted for their greed by the runners. If none of them announce that they plan to contribute BEFORE the run, after I pay the registration fee I will take my money to bars not officially on the run, like Tapps, La Carretta or Applebees. Please tell all the bars they should do the right thing, and I am disappointed not more people have spoken up about this situation of the bars clearly taking advantage of this charitable event.
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The article states that all businesses like motels, restaurants, stores, et al see a boom from this. But I do not see you saying they should kick in money. You seem to only want the bars to. Why?
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People use the “charity” card quite often regarding their participation in the run, so I think that these businesses should be expected to add some green to the pot at the end of the rainbow and make it luckier for the cause!
Why should Jamestown be expected to put up with closed streets, loud music, and garbage everywhere? So that businesses can just take and not give anything back?
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That’s a good weekend to avoid doing anything in Jamestown.
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That’s a great weekend to avoid Jamestown unless you enjoy watching a bunch of obnoxious drunks make fools of themselves.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Most bars do in fact donate some proceeds from the day back to the charities the Run supports, only a few do not.
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I don’t believe this for a moment, in all the years that I have lived here I have never seen or heard of any bar donating to the run. The Jamestown Sun rights articles all the time on donations to charity in the area as well as several articles about the run every year, never once have I seen mention of how much money the bars donate, and after speaking with people in town, I know that the bars don’t donate anything. “Most” of the bars donate? That is a very vague statement, I want to know specifically which bars and how much they are donating until I believe it. If they are donating, as you claim, though I know they are not, then why don’t they mention how much they are donating, why doesn’t it show up in the paper. Is it because the amount you claim they are donating is so small that people would call them out for it? Bottom line is it would be a win-win situation if all the bars donated at least 10% of their take that day. Over 2300 people registered last year right? Well if you were out there like me last year you could see that a there must have been several hundred people running around that didn’t register, thus not contributing to the charity (like all the bars). If the bars did all donate, which would be the Christian thing to do, then some of the money spend at the bars by the unregistered patrons would still find its way to charity and the bars could brag about how much they donated, which would result in great PR for them. As it stands now, I can’t morally visit and spend my money at these “Official” run bars, knowing that they are being so greedy and self-centered. I would like to call upon the people of our community, local churches and the organizers to demand the bars donate their fair share or else boycott them the day of the run. Also, after the event is over I would like to see the Jamestown Sun article detail exactly which bars donated (which I am sure will be none again) and how much they all raised together, that way they can be celebrated for their good deeds, or shunned for their selfishness. If they did donate I have not doubt that the amount raised would be doubled, if not tripled, but as of right now I guess we’ll never know. Hopefully the weather the day of the run won’t be as cold as the hearts of these bar owners.
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Hey Lance, i happen to know of a few bars and businesses that donate to the cause. Like the Elks, Wonder, Gladstone, The Rail when it used to be open. Wildside creation donates…just to name a few. Why does the Sun have to list every donation? If you want to know (specifically) wich bars donate and how much, get off your lazy ass and go ask. Instead of waiting to read it in a paper. Maybe you should move to Valley City and hang out with all the rest of the whiners.
I was born and raised in Jtown and that run pulls in record numbers every year for a great charity. Yes some people skip out on the rgistration and that sucks. But every year the dollar amount goes higher. And the Great Larry Knoblich and his staff do an amazing job every year! So Zip It!
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Hey Jay, did you even read my responses? Obviously you didn’t. You and Mr. Rodgers above have both stated that not ALL of the bars donate. If the Elks, Wonder and Shady’s do donate, great, they should be applauded for it, but what about Frontier Fort, The Buff, Knights of Columbus, The Corner, The Office and The Vets? In other words you thinks it perfectly OK that two-thirds of all the official bars don’t donate anything yet walk away with thousands of dollars of profit? Is it perfectly fine that my $30 registration fee is more money for the charity then the combined sum of most of the bars on the run? I want to see the names and amounts donated by the bars in a Jamestown Sun article so they can be seen in the paper for their good deeds, not to mention it would add validity to your statement that bars like Shady’s and The Wonder bar donate, because for all I know you are making that up, where as you can’t produce documented accounts of all of the bars donating due to the lack of articles stating as such during the past few decades. If Wildside donates, that is also great, they are the official home of the run’s t-shirts, and due to the excessive business they get from all of those orders every year its only fair they do donate, not to mention its the right thing to do, why can’t all the bars be held to the same standard that Wildside is setting? The whole point of my “whining” is that I want to see the charity raise as much money as possible, is that wrong of me? You even agree with me that is sucks that not everyone registers, well maybe you would notice that I stated in my comment that a good way to offset that lost charity money is if the bars donated 10% of their money that day. In the article they state that local business’ make around $500,000 that day, yet the charity raises around $33,000, if the bars all donated I am sure the charity could make over $50,000 (which would be 10% of the total business brought in). But there are no “official” Runnin’ of the Green hotels or restaurants, the whole point of the event is to visit bars, and the official bars should be expected to donate their fair share and be held responsible for it via the follow up article by the Jamestown Sun. Just like yourself, I am a proud member of this community and want to see it do the best it can, and I agree that Larry Knoblich does a fantastic job, anyone who states I think otherwise is just wrong. So Jay, maybe you should learn to be a bit more constructive with your comments towards this topic instead of turning to unjustified and juvenile statements towards myself like calling me a whiner and telling me to move out of town, we are adults here Jay, this isn’t the schoolyard. To reiterate, If you are an official bar on the run who is poised to make thousands of dollars in one day, like you do every year, you should do the right thing and donate at least 10%. The Jamestown Sun and the community should hold them accountable by having an article applauding those that do. So there you have it Jay, if you have a logical argument as to why the all the bars should not have to donate I would love to hear it, but if you are just gonna resort to being a bully, then you sir, can Zip it!
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Well Lance, i never once stated that all bars do not donate. I mentioned a couple that i know do. Your first article says that every single bar in Jamestown does not donate, not a single dime. Your wrong about that. You don’t know for sure which bars donate and which ones don’t. And to be honest, neither do i. You went ahead and stated that no bars donate. I happen to know that some do so i called you out on it. If you think the sun needs to list all the bars/businesses that do donate, then the sun needs to list each and every person that has donated. Weather its the $30 registration, or any other type of funding twords the cause. You need to research and get your facts straight before you start throwing false information out there for people to read.
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Jay Mills,
Maybe the bars that DO donate should let the runners know if and how much they donate. The runners that actually register for the run wear their registration cards around, so maybe the bars could post a sign or take out an advertisement that says that they do donate and what amount they plan on donating. I would also think that the paper would want to let people know. I’m sure the townspeople wouldn’t be so willing to entertain such an event if the bars weren’t helping out it’s purpose. People have a right to know, in my opinion, I guess
I do know that the Frontier Fort doesn’t donate anything. I used to work there and they actually seemed quite proud that they had all the runners show up and that they made good money all while they did nothing and denying me the day off. I guess I didn’t really think about it until now, but I would like to see them give something to the cause.
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Jay, I want the Sun to mention which bars did and did not donate because they are part of the event, those nine bars are on a checklist of places to visit in order to complete the run. If they are the official bars then they should be expected to donate a reasonable amount of money towards the charity. I’m not asking each individual person to be listed, because they are not profiting from the event and obviously listing two or three thousand names in the paper would be unnecessary. I agree with the idea from David, the bars should post a sign or take out an ad mentioned how much they plan on donating, the donations should be viewed as something to be proud of. Hopefully the Jamestown Sun takes this comment thread into consideration when writing their next article about the run, I feel this is a valid conversation that involves our whole community, the run is one of the largest events the town offers all year long and the community has the right to know if the official bars are doing their part.
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Lance, how do you know the participating bars are not donating? If there are bars that donate, please list them. That would be a wonderful thing to see.
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