Island Connections’ annual Run, Walk, Wag 5K is less about racing than showing up, having fun, and remembering a woman who spent her life helping others.
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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Paradis Ace Hardware.
BAR HARBOR—There are dogs at Mary Parker’s race. A lot of them.
Mary would have liked that.
Mary liked dogs. She liked people. She liked helping people. She liked to laugh and hearing people’s stories. And she liked the work she did at Island Connections, where she spent seven years helping seniors and people with disabilities get where they needed to go.
She died of cancer in 2015.
People could have remembered her with a plaque, maybe, or a scholarship, or some other solemn thing with her name on it.
Instead, they have an annual 5K.
Except you do not have to run it. You can walk. You can push a wheelchair. You can bring your children. You can bring your dog. You can stop along the way and talk to somebody you have not seen in a while.
You can just come and stand along Bar Harbor’s Shore Path and cheer the people and the pups as they move forward.
And that may be the best way to remember Mary Parker because Mary Parker was the sort of person who showed up for people, all the time.
Now, every October, they show up for her.
“I was not lucky enough to meet Mary Parker,” Island Connections Director Carissa Tinker said at the start of the October 3 race on Park Street right outside the MDI YMCA.
“But my favorite thing about organizing this race is I have an opportunity to talk to a lot of people that did know her and there is something in common that everybody says which is that she was just so great. She was kind. She was empathetic and she loved her community. And it is just so obvious when you talk to people who did know her that she was just a light that shined throughout the entire community,” Tinker told the over 60 racers and their canine companions.
That is the guiding light, the inspiration, for a fundraising run for the nonprofit that’s whole purpose is to help others, the way Mary Parker did.
“So as we walk and run today, I just want us to be thinking about how we can be that light and remember to always shine, to be kind and to have a sense of humor,” Tinker said.
One of the other main elements of a story about Mary Parker is that she is laughing in that story.
“Let’s remember her and to laugh and to have fun,” Tinker said.
Mary worked there for seven years as the transportation coordinator before she died from cancer in 2015. The organization’s Running for Rides was renamed “Mary Parker’s Run, Walk, Wag 5k.” It’s to honor her.
It’s a race, but it’s more than a race.
It can be run, but it doesn’t have to be run. You can skip, frolic, wheel, walk, trot, and stop to sniff an occasional tree. What matters is that you go.
There’s a spirit of community and joy that happens at this event that reflects the beauty of Island Connections and its mission, but also the beauty of Mary.
“Most of the folks that join us don’t run; they walk the course, and we are one of the only local 5ks that welcome dogs,” Tinker has previously said. “It’s a fun family-friendly event for everybody.”
The event also reflects generosity and giving, traits Mary was known for, but also traits that she inspired in others. Mary’s friends rallied, holding fundraisers to help cover the costs of cancer treatments that weren’t covered by insurance after Mary’s 2012 cancer diagnosis.
There was something about Mary, about the way she looked at life, about the way she lived it, that continues to inspire not just her family, but her coworkers and her acquaintances.
There is pure magic in living a life that way. There is pure magic in hope and legacy. The race event this October is an opportunity for others to put a little magic—a little bit of kindness, a little bit of good and caring about the community—out there, too.
Mary Parker was about not dwelling in the darkest hours, but being the light inside them.
WHAT IS ISLAND CONNECTIONS?
Founded in 1997, Island Connections transports seniors and people with disabilities. It also provides grocery shopping and other services as well as delivers Meals on Wheels. Each year, it coordinates over 5,500 rides. Volunteers give those rides. Neighbors help neighbors. And donors help keep it going by funding the vital service.
Back in July 2020, Norman Langlois became sick. He ended up needing dialysis three times a week. Dialysis isn’t available in Bar Harbor.
“I couldn’t drive after dialysis. I had to find a way to get to dialysis,” Langlois recalled.
He ended up learning about Island Connections and the agency stepped in and stepped up. Volunteers take him to dialysis multiple times a week.
“You’re going to a treatment that’s not necessarily fun. They make it enjoyable. They really care. Having someone to talk to just sitting there? It takes a lot of pressure off your mind,” he said.
“Without Island Connections, I would have to find a way somehow to get there . . . somehow . . . or have to move to Ellsworth. It’s made a big difference,” Langlois said.
According to the Maine Council on Aging, having transportation is part of good health and the need for it is increasing, particularly for older adults.
RESULTS
We’ll update this story with results when we have them.
EVENT SPONSORS
Event sponsors include Bar Harbor Savings and Loan, Peacock Builders, Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop, Spruce and Gussy, Royal Promotions, Wind and Wine by the Sea, Swallowfield, Machias Savings Bank, Bark Harbor, Windowpanes. It was hosted by MDI YMCA and Pat’s Pizza.
QUICK NOTE
We also have many, many more photos and videos on our Facebook page here.
All photos: Shaun Farrar/Carrie Jones/Bar Harbor Story.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To learn more about Island Connections and how you can help them out, click here.
Past related stories:
For These Siblings and Their Charitable Fund, Giving Back Has Become a Million Dollar Purpose
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