Portal gets creative to save run, key fundraiser

Portal Inc. had to again cancel its Fish Day Run/Walk when the Port Washington festival was called off for the second consecutive year due to the pandemic, but the organization’s biggest fundraiser will be replaced this year with another run and walk.

The inaugural Nature Run, Walk and Roll will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 17, on the nature trail at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Ozaukee in Mequon.

“We wanted to keep the idea of the event alive,” Portal Executive Director Carol Stuebe said. “Necessity is the mother of invention, and this was a nice way to pivot and to celebrate our partnership with Ascension.”

To accommodate the event, she said, Ascension improved its one-mile nature walk, replacing boards along the boardwalk and bridges, adding fresh gravel and installing culverts to make the wetlands more passable and ensuring the route is wheelchair accessible.

Although the event is being held on what would have been Fish Day, it won’t replace the Fish Day Run/Walk in future years, Human Resources Manager Caroline Buser said.

“We’re proud of the history we have with Fish Day, and this will never replace our partnership with Fish Day,” she said, noting that in the future the Ascension event may be held in fall.

Ascension, she noted, has been a major sponsor of the Fish Day Run/Walk since its inception in 1986.

Typically the Fish Day run and walk draws 800 to 900 participants, Stuebe said.

“It’s really a big event, and not only is it something that brings us funding it also brings awareness to our organization,” she said. “People really connect with us on this event.”

But, she noted, the Fish Day Run/Walk is strenuous, counting a number of the city’s seven hills along its route, and the crowd that gathers along the way can be unnerving to some participants.

The Nature Run, Walk and Roll is one mile long and is an ideal trail for a more leisurely event.

It will have a staggered start, with as many as eight people beginning every 15 minutes. That, Buser said, will allow for social distancing and let participants enjoy the nature trail, which runs through woods, prairies and wetlands.

Volunteers will be on hand in case people need assistance pushing wheelchairs or otherwise navigating the trail, she added.

The event will not only bring recognition  to Portal, it will also raise awareness of the hospital’s nature trail. 

“It’s really a hidden gem,” Stuebe said. “I think a lot of people don’t even know about Ascension’s nature trail.”

Last year, when Fish Day was canceled, Portal held a virtual event, and it is holding that again this year.

But, Buser noted, “virtual events don’t have the same draw as in-person events.”

The virtual run and walk is being held from July 2 to 19.

To register for the Nature Run, Walk and Roll or the virtual event, visit portalinc.org.