With about three weeks left until the Strawberry Festival, two contenders are taking part in a festival tradition and running for unofficial mayor of Vashon.
Joe Thieme, a retired drug counselor active in several island causes, is running in support of Rj’s Kids, while a pet goat named Bandit is running on behalf of Vashon Youth Baseball & Softball (VYBS).
The unofficial mayor contest began in 2001, when the chamber of commerce and the Eagles club resurrected the tradition as part of the Strawberry Festival. Candidates compete by raising money for their favorite charities, with dollars counting as votes. In recent years, those elected as unofficial mayor have attended community events such as ribbon cuttings and even made mock mayoral proclamations.
Bandit, a goat belonging to islanders Henry and Carrie Perrin, was the first to announce his candidacy this year, doing so clad in a baseball jersey at VYBS’s opening day ceremonies in April.
Henry Perrin, whose son went through VYBS and now plays high school baseball, said that his family believes the club is a good cause. And since animals have run for mayor in the past, they thought Bandit would be a good candidate.
VYBS, one of Vashon’s oldest youth sports organizations, provides baseball and softball teams for children ages 4 to 14.
“Along the way, kids learn about hard work, sportsmanship and how to be a good teammate,” said VYBS board member Cheryl Pruett in a press release.
Any money raised by Bandit will go to support VYBS’s scholarship fund.
“It provides financial assistance to kids who might not otherwise be able to play,” Perrin said.
As for Bandit, Perrin said the 2- or 3-year old goat is a baseball fan and has only one horn, which makes him look kind of like a unicorn. He and some of his pasturemates, including sheep and a llama, will be available to meet the public at a petting zoo-like event this Saturday during Kite Day. Look for the sign for the along Point Robinson Road.
While Bandit knows his way around a pasture, his opponent boasts experience far beyond Vashon’s meadows. Thieme has been a drug and alcohol addiction counselor since 1986, working for the state of Washington, the Puyallup Tribe, Sea Mar Community Health Centers and King County. Thieme is in long-term recovery himself and said he has a passion for helping others, particularly young people, through addiction and hard times.
“It’s about helping people get where they need to go,” he said.
Thieme has lived on Vashon for five years and is on the board of the Vashon Alliance to Reduce Substance Abuse (VARSA) as well as an off-island organization that offers a mental health education program. He is a member of and volunteer for the Vashon Senior Center and has been involved in the Suicide Hope Initiative (SHIne).
“I am blessed because I see all these opportunities to help our youth,” he said.
Thieme is running in support of Rj’s Kids, a nonprofit created in response to recent suicides among teens and young adults on Vashon. The money raised by Thieme will help send island youth to a horse training therapy program this summer.
Thieme said that while he hopes to win, the most important things is that both candidates raise money for good causes.
“If the old goat wins, that’s good,” he said. “If the older goat wins, that’s great, too.”
Look for candidates’ donation jars around town. Vashon residents can still run for unofficial mayor. For more information, see vashonchamber.com.
