Top Bloomsday volunteers announced; Murphy, Pribnow, Kinghorn honored

Monday, April 25, 2005

Spokane, WA—The Lilac Bloomsday Association today announced the winners of the Volunteer of the Year and Spirit Awards, Bloomsday’s yearly awards recognizing the contributions of volunteers. Eileen Murphy was named as Volunteer of the Year, while Curt Kinghorn and Joan Pribnow were both given the 2005 Spirit Award.

 

“Volunteer support is absolutely crucial to the success of Bloomsday,” said Lilac Bloomsday Association President Al Odenthal. “With over 5,000 volunteers, it’s always difficult to single out two or three, but we feel we’ve honored some very special people again this year.”

 

Volunteer of the Year winner Eileen Murphy has been Bloomsday registration’s “Night Supervisor” for many years, training and overseeing all evening volunteers, managing the database and running reports late into the evening after working a full day at her regular job. On weekends Murphy helps register entrants and edits the database, and on race weekend she puts in twelve-plus-hour shifts at the Ag Trade Center.

Bloomsday’s Spirit Award recognizes people who consistently display a helpful and upbeat attitude about the event, like this year’s winners, Joan Pribnow and Curt Kinghorn. Pribnow not only helps round up volunteers and assist with registration from March through May, but she also helps with late registration on Bloomsday weekend, then runs the race before reporting for results processing duties. Curt Kinghorn is a similar staple of the Spokane running scene, supporting races, events and programs for runners of all ages, and exhibiting a contagious joy of running.

Murphy, Pribnow and Kinghorn will all be at Check-In this weekend, where late entrants will still be to sign up for Bloomsday ‘05. Late registration will be available during normal Check-In hours at the Ag Trade Center—Friday, April 29^th, from 11:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, April 30^th from 9:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. The late registration fee is $25.00. Race entry is not available on Sunday, May 1.

 

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