Pear Blossom Festival

Each year, Medford has a Pear Blossom Festival. It is held the second weekend in April and includes a street fair, a parade, and the Pear Blossom Run. There are four different runs. There is a 5K and a ten-mile run (hopefully next year I will up to the ten-mile - Ken and Jonny ran it last year). There is also a 1 mile and 2 mile walk/run called the Mayor's cup. For the 1 mile and 2 mile runs, the schools have a contest to see which school has the most participation from the students in the run and receive awards at the Mayor's Award Ceremony before the run. They also have a contest for the t-shirts printed for the Mayor's cup. This year, Brian won the contest for the t-shirt drawing. He was so excited. It really was a cute picture. There were over a thousand entries from the different elementary schools in the area. At the Mayor’s Awards Ceremony before the 1 mile run, Mayor Gary Wheeler presented Brian with a framed picture of his artwork. Brian also received a gift certificate for a free pair of running shoes from Rogue Valley Runners, a free party from the YMCA, and free t-shirts for himself and his family.




Hoover school receiving their award


We all ran in the one mile race. Jonny placed second with a time of 5'10". The rest of us at least completed the race. They don't have official times for the one or two mile, but it was still fun!

We found the Jensens and the Sykes at the parade. I had just told Elise Sykes the day before that there was no way we would see each other at the parade - too many people. It just happens that we ended up sitting right by them.
Brian, Emily, Scotty, Sam Sykes, Addie and Lily Jensen, and Hannah Sykes

Jonny and Anna were both in the parade with their school's marching bands. Jonny plays the saxophone for North Medford High School and Anna plays the oboe for Hedrick Middle School. Since they don't have oboes in marching band (the reeds are too brittle), she got to play the cymbals.