Bayside 5K Fund-Raiser A Sprinting Success

More than 150 residents from Bayside and across Queens came together in an effort to get acquainted, get some fresh air and raised more than $3,000 for a very worthwhile cause last weekendthe beautification of Bell Boulevard.
The Bayside Business Association (BBA) in conjunction with Barbara Gillespie, founder of Q4U, a non-profit group established to help in the organization and funding of sports and leisure activities in the parks of northeast Queens, and Dominic Ortiz of Quantum Feet, held its first annual Bayside Day 5K Run/Walk in Crocheron Park. The event was in support of the Bell Boulevard Greening Project, which aims to improve Bell Boulevard aesthetically and environmentally by planting trees along the venue.
"The BBA wants to see Bell Boulevard beautiful and green again, giving people shade while walking down the street and making the area aesthetically pleasing to everyone," said Rosemary Zimmerman, a member of the Board of Directors for the BBA. The money that was raised from the race will be used to plant half a dozen trees.
The BBA was founded in 1997 by Judith Limpert, current president, and Victoria Schneps, member of the Board of Directors, as a means by which the Bayside community and its commercial occupants could come together and have one representational voice with government agencies. The Chamber of Commerce had become obsolete in the neighborhood, and residents felt they needed an association to coordinate their efforts for the improvement of Bayside.
The BBA intends to keep up its efforts and, in fact, intends to expand by forming a Business Improvement District (BID) that would focus on the troublesome issue of parking on Bell Boulevard, among other things.
Although the members of the BBA pay an annual fee of $100, funds are short. The organization, therefore, relies on fund-raisers to supplement its budget. They have arranged events such as "Taste of Bayside" and golf outings.
Bayside had its very first 5K Day winner, Kevon Carter, 13, of Valley Stream. Second place for the males went to John McGee, while first place for the females went to Mary Ellen Lennon.
Keil Brothers will be planting the $450 Red Spire Callery trees and Callery Pear trees along Bell Boulevard. And though the trees have yet to be planted, it seems as though the spirit of a community has already taken root.
For information regarding the BBA or its upcoming events, contact Judith Limpert at 718-229-2277, or visit www.q4u.org.