Drag Douglas for a good cause
If you’re of a certain age – or if you’ve just heard your parents’ stories – you might remember cruising down Douglas. Eddie Hansen has fond memories of meeting friends on the weekend to go “drag” Douglas.
“It was the coolest thing to do,” he said.
But if you’re going to take a drive down memory lane, it might as well be for a good cause. This Saturday, entrants for “Drag Douglas” will have an opportunity to do just that – take a lazy drive down Douglas while supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
The event is part of LLS’s Man and Woman of the Year competition, in which seven men and seven women are nominated annually and compete to raise the most money for the cause.
2017 Man of the Year nominee Hansen organized “Drag Douglas” as his fundraising event this year. Hansen is an outside sales representative for Blue Line Rental, a father, a part-time DJ and the son of Nancy Hansen, a victim of acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Eddie Hansen was nominated by a friend, Tori Deatherage, who also happens to be last year’s LLS Woman of the Year.
Deatherage “knew I had a personal connection because of my mom,” Hansen said. Since his mother’s illness, “supporting LLS has been a big part of my life. … I thought maybe this year is my year.”
Until last Tuesday, though, Hansen wasn’t sure that the event would happen.
“I thought, ‘how hard would it be to convince the city to shut (Douglas) down for a few hours?’ And it was no small feat. … I talked to City Council members, and they said they’d help me. Then someone else said, ‘No, they couldn’t shut it down.’ It was a crazy ride getting it off the ground. … But I advertised it on radio stations, two news stations, and I still didn’t know if it would get approved.”
For a $100 donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a driver and a plus-one can drag up and down Douglas between Main and Washington from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Afterward, anyone can head to Union Station, 801 E. Douglas, for the after-party from 4 to 9 p.m. A $5 suggested donation will give attendees access to food trucks, booze trucks, yard games and music by DJ SKU of Los Angeles. Portions of concessions sales also will be donated to LLS.
Hansen says participants can drive any sort of vehicle; he’ll be driving a golf cart while seeking out donations.
“It doesn’t have to be street legal – anything to show your support is good to go,” he said.
Check-in will take place from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, 300 S. Sycamore.
For more information, to donate and to register, visit https://www.dragdouglas.com.
This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Drag Douglas for a good cause."