Community identity, neighborhood beautification and competitive fun collide on Saturday, June 18, with the running of The Amazing High Heel Race, a scavenger hunt event connecting participating local businesses in Hillcrest, intended as a fundraiser for the construction of a 65-foot Pride flag pole monument.
The race, which is scheduled to begin at Baja Betty’s on University Avenue, will involve teams of between four and six high heel-wearing participants wobbling from business to business, solving clues and overcoming challenges. The event, which is being held in association with the Hillcrest Business Association, will culminate with an after party of food and drink in the parking lot of the Gossip Grill, on University Avenue.
Benjamin Nicholls, executive director of the Hillcrest Business Association (HBA), says that the association is acting as the fiscal agent for the race, “handling all the money and accounting and making sure everything is above board.”
In addition to also acting as the fiscal agent for the Pride flag monument itself, with all donations going through the HBA, the association intends to assist the flag organizers with permitting issues and other government requirements.
The construction of the Pride flag monument, which Nicholls says will be at the east end of Hillcrest roughly at the intersection of Normal Street and University Avenue, historically the start of the annual Pride parade, is designed to bring attention to the importance and history of the LGBT community within the Hillcrest neighborhood, as well as the greater San Diego area.
While the Amazing High Heel Race is the official kickoff for the flag fundraising effort, how much extra money will be needed will not be known until after the day’s efforts have concluded. Nicholls says that the plan is to raise between $40-$50,000 for the project, which will cover the cost of the flag and the pole, as well as establish an endowment intended to provide financial resources for the monument’s ongoing maintenance.
The plan also calls for the flag to be up by July 2012, providing sufficient funds have been raised by then.
According to the Amazing High Heel Race’s official Web site (theamazinghighheelrace.com), “The event is part celebration of diversity, part display of unity and total investment in enhancing the quality of life in San Diego’s most vibrant neighborhood.”
Donations can also be made on the race’s Web site via a direct link to PayPal, although prospective donors do not need a PayPal account to give online, just a credit or debit card.
