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Redwood City Pride Meets Redwood City Residents
By Nicole Minieri
Thursday, Sept. 4 is the kickoff date
for the acceptance of submissions
to the first annual “Show Your
Pride Redwood City” contest. This
writing and photo contest is both
a creative challenge and an open
invitation for locals to share what
makes this city such an exceptional
place to reside. So ready, set,
go, Redwood City residents! You
have just been given the golden
opportunity to show how much you
have to be proud of living in the
newly restored “climate best by
government test” city.
The writing portion of this contest is open
only to children in grades 6 through 12. Each
contestant is encouraged to write a 400-word
essay or poem on what makes living in Redwood
City so special. People of all ages are welcome
to participate in the photo part of the contest.
Photographs should capture and exhibit the things
around town that make the photographer, whether
novice or skilled, proud. The deadline for all
submissions is Monday, Oct. 20.
The concept for this exuberant and artistic
competition was born on April 3. While speaking
to an audience of business leaders at a Partnership
Academy for Community Teamwork (PACT) City
Hall event, Mayor Rosanne Foust declared that
the theme for her two years as mayor of Redwood
City was “Redwood City Pride.” She then asked
the attending spectators, “Exactly what is it about
Redwood City that makes you proud?”
Upon hearing this query, Dave Karow,
Redwood City native and business owner,
automatically began to think about how he could
find a way to bring Foust’s inspiring words to a
considerably larger audience.
“I thought to myself, Wow, what a great
question. I remember when I first heard the word
‘proud,’ I instinctively visualized writing and
photos that just about everyone in town would
want to share about the city,” Karow said in a
recent interview. “I have always kept myself
very active in Redwood City by centering my
professional and community focuses in and
around town. I also had a developing desire
to take my community service involvement
in Redwood City up a notch, and thought
constructing a creative competition would
definitely have a direct impact on the community
and be fun at the same time. Then I challenged
myself to work overtime and create a tangible
reflection out of Mayor Foust’s words,” he
explained.
Within a short time frame, Karow created the
“Show Your Pride Redwood City” contest and
carefully wove together a committed, volunteerbased
staff including Foust, whose main mission
is to bring Redwood City people together,
publicize all of the good things the city has to
offer and cultivate civic pride.
“Redwood City is the most vibrant, balanced
community on the Peninsula, and I want people
to stop and notice that, write it down or take
a picture which represents that as well,” said
Karow. “I want kids and adults to get in touch
with their creative side, have fun, get noticed and
maybe experience a little time in the limelight
and win some cool stuff in the process. Plus, I
am very eager to see what today’s kid has to say
about what is so great about Redwood City.”
Foust, who shares the same profound feelings
about Redwood City, added, “This contest is one
more positive effort in building up a strong body
of good people together, and I am here to fully
support that.”
Karow is the founding sponsor of the contest
and continues to work diligently on recruiting
additional contributors. So far, all of his hard
work in drafting potential financial supporters
has paid off. Heading the impressive financial
roster alongside Karow and Foust are several local
Redwood City businesses — such as Redwood
City Funding, Edward Jones, Pete’s Harbor,
Young’s Ice Cream & Candy Bar and San Mateo
Credit Union — with the family foundation of
Dani Gasparini and Alyn Beals rounding off the
monetary roll.
“We really want to make sure that everyone
who enters in the contest will receive a prize
even though they may not be a semifinalist,”
said Karow. “Although the basics for the contest
are still fresh in the planning, we have already
decided that every contestant will be getting
an envelope in the mail from me with a free ice
cream card from Young’s.”
The top three prizes for the contest have
already been determined as well. In each
category, the first-place winner will receive a
generous prize of $500, second place $250 and
third $100. “We have cash prizes at the top and
ice cream at the bottom,” said Karow. “We are
now working on middle prizes, so the need for
more sponsors is crucial. Actually, the contest
committee will remain open to any kind prizes,
donations and financial support right up through
judging at the end of November.”
Contest submissions will be judged during
the month of November and the winners will be
announced on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the annual
Redwood City Hometown Holidays event.
However, a sneak preview of the semifinalists
will be posted on the “Show Your Pride Redwood
City” Web site (www.redwoodcitypride.org) the
week before Dec. 6.
“We are looking for essays and photos that
display creativity, skill, and show the side of
Redwood City that we residents love. We will
have a panel of judges rate the content in those
three areas and then vote on the top three prizes,”
said Karow.
In fact, the most unique prize of all is media
exposure for the semifinalists. Winners of
both contests will be featured on local cable
stations 26 and 27. The contest committee will
be publishing a coffee-table book using the
best writing and photo submissions. “People
who submit to our contest should know that we
could use their material in that book, as well as
material concerning future contests, and possibly
[in] future books,” explained Karow. “We have
a main interest in selling the coffee-table book
to the public. The proceeds of this book will
go to support this contest in the future, and
any additional proceeds will be donated to the
Sequoia Awards and Redwood City PAL.” Karow
has also arranged for the best contest submissions
to be displayed on plasma TV screens at the
library and City Hall, as well as on the “Show
Your Pride Redwood City” Web site.
Intending this creative contest to become an
annual event, Karow is very optimistic about the
anticipated turnout. “I would love to see several
hundred entries and will be extremely thrilled to
see 500 to 1,000. If we have a big turnout, I have
supporters who are already willing to step in and
provide additional funding as needed,” he said.
Karow is also currently seeking people to
volunteer to assist with school outreach. “It is our
goal to reach every middle and high school in
Redwood City, including students in the private
sectors, and encourage participation,” said Karow.
“Right now, one of our main vehicles of reaching
students is through all of the English teachers,
principals and school superintendents by way
of fliers and posters.” For the photo contest,
Karow is relying on the Internet to appeal to
photographers via Flickr.
With Karow as the main mastermind behind
“Show Your Pride Redwood City,” the contest is
destined to dominate in citywide participation. He
and Foust will do whatever it takes to make this
an enjoyable, successful yearly endeavor because
they both strongly believe that people are catching
on to the sentiment of Redwood City pride.
“Life is much sweeter when you live, work
and play with people you know and care about,
and Redwood City is a place where all of that is
really possible. People who live here love living
here,” said Karow. “It is an embracing, closeknit
society, and it often feels like we are a real
democracy making our way forward together.
Many people think Redwood City is a special
place, and this contest is the perfect chance to
show others why!”
Send photo submissions to photo-entries@
rwcfunding.com. Send writing submissions to
writing-entries@rwcfunding.com. Alternatively,
mail submissions to Show Your Pride Entries,
Redwood City Funding, P.O. Box 1085, Redwood
City, CA 94064-1085.
The Spectrum 25