Opening up hearts: Heart of the Valley shares event with CROP Hunger Walk

Published 4:23 pm Wednesday, May 6, 2015

By Mary Miller, Guest columnist

Heart of the Valley, the community image event, starts at noon Sunday, May 17, at Snoqualmie’s Centennial Field. Now in its fourth year, the event has goal of filling the heart on the field, and the hearts of one and all.

This year, the event partners with the CROP Hunger Walk to further encourage community collaboration. Celebrate alliance on the field, creating shapes, including the traditional heart.

This will be a day of fun, music by local bands Story Boxx and the Antones, old-fashioned country games, the My Chef Lynne food truck and a community potluck.

The heart was inspired after I saw first hand those who suffered through the tragedies that shook Snoqualmie Valley communities in early May, 2011. As a longtime professional photographer who has raised children here and is proud to call the Snoqualmie Valley home, I observed how the trauma of those events affected the people of this region, showing on the faces of the many I spoke with through Facebook posts and social websites. I observed as our national media exposure grew from significant sadness.

I decided to conduct a call out to the community via Facebook to encourage people to come out and “play” in hopes of celebrating each other by creating an image of togetherness; the notion that we are all still here, standing in union as friends, neighbors, coworkers and family.

This would become an exercise in logistics, trust, Mother Nature, and spontaneity, over the next five days. To my surprise, more than 250 people gathered on Centennial Field that early day in May. As I directed from a lift some 65 feet above the field, we worked together to create not one, but several shapes.

Over the last two years, Heart of the Valley was made an official Snoqualmie Valley event; I am forever grateful to all who choose to support and value the uniqueness of the experience.

The history of our region is not only in the monumental beauty we are surrounded by and gaze upon, but also in hiking the many trails that spiritually we may be called to. It lies in the stories of those who have lived here, in the faces we see in images from bygone years. The components of history and humanity lie at the heart of what this event has evolved into, supporting a great cause and celebrating each other.

This year’s Heart of the Valley supporters include the cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie, QFC, IGA, Bartell Drugs, Down to Earth Flowers, Eastside Fire & Rescue, Snoqualmie Valley Moose Lodge, the Grange, the Healing Garden, Mountain Valley Montessori, Pioneer Coffee, Piccola Wines, Carmichael’s and REMAX.

Festivities begin at noon.

CROP Walk

To one and all, I extend a warm invitation to come out and enjoy the experience of teamwork for the CROP Hunger Walk.  For information, go to www.crophungerwalk.org/snoqualmiewa.

The walk starts at Meadowbrook Interpretive Center at 12:30 p.m. and follows the trail around Centennial Field and Heart of the Valley. Walkers are invited to join in at 2:15 p.m. for photographs on the field.

Over the last few years, images from Heart of the Valley have been showcased in various ways throughout the nation.

This year’s images of The Heart of the Valley will be posted on The Heart of the Valley and my Facebook pages.

Wear bright colors and/or uniforms. Pets are welcome. Proposals are definitely encouraged. There will be lots of surprises for those participating.

The Heart of the Valley schedule includes:

• Noon- Sign in, potluck begins

• 12:30 p.m.- StoryBoxx plays, CROP Hunger Walk begins

• 2:15 p.m.- Photographs on the field (heart and secret shapes to be revealed)

• 3:30 p.m.- The Antones play

• 4:30 p.m.- Games

• 6 p.m.- After-party at Piccola Wines.