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JERREY ROBERTS

EASTHAMPTON - After raising more than $125,000 for charity, organizers of Derrill's Race said they felt that it was time to let the race "hang up its running shoes."

The race, held in memory of late Detective Sgt. Derrill Stoddard, has been run every spring since his death in 2004.

"It just seemed like the right time. We wanted to end it while it was still fun," said Derrill's race committee member Elizabeth Provo, one of five who organized the first race in 2004.

Provo said the race on the Manhan Rail Trail had grown from 222 participants in 2004 to 780 in 2011, making it more difficult for the committee of 10 volunteers to continue to run it. It had outgrown the Manhan Rail Trail, she said, but it was not feasible to change it to a road race because it would require so many more of the city's public safety workers.

Co-founder Shelley Wilton said that while they considered asking others, including the city's Police Association, to take over the race, it did not feel right. "It was a hard decision," she said. "We are so emotionally connected to the race."

Wilton, who owns Wellness Within Chiropractic on Liberty Street, knew Stoddard when he was a patient of hers for five months before he died of leukemia in 2004 at the age of 53. It was her idea to start the race in his honor.

"One of the main reasons the race became such a success is because of who Derrill was," she said. "Everyone loved him and wanted to honor him."

In a letter posted on the Derrill's Race Facebook page, Wilton wrote the race had raised $100,000 for the Cam Neely Foundation For Cancer Care, $11,000 to provide scholarships to city students, and $14,000 that was donated to the city to help repair a section of the Manhan Rail Trail that was destroyed by a sinkhole in 2010.

The remaining funds raised in the 2011 race will go toward the final 2012 Derrill's Race Scholarship and any excess will be donated to local charity, Wilton wrote.

Tae Kwon Do scholarships

Thanks to a gift from an anonymous donor, the Easthampton Community Center is offering two scholarships for youth or adults interested in trying the Tae Kwon Do Karate class held there.

A city resident who enjoys the class donated $150 for five scholarships to the class. Two of the scholarships are left, said Robin Bialecki, Community Center director.

"This is a great opportunity if you always wanted to try it and didn't think you could afford it," Bialecki said. "It's a great class and great exercise."

Usually, the class costs $30 for a six-week session. It takes place on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Community Center on Clark Street. It has been taught for over a decade by Jeff VanDudenhove, who took the class there as a kid, Bialecki said.

For more information or to claim one of the scholarships, contact Bialecki at (413) 527-5240, or come to one of the classes.

Goldin reception

In Southampton, Edwards Public Library's new director will be welcomed at a reception in her honor on Feb. 2. Residents and library patrons are invited to meet Barbara Goldin, 65, of Leeds, who started her new position in Southampton last week.

"We're delighted to have her," said Beth Russell-Smith, chairwoman of the Library Board of Trustees. "Things are working out great and we want everyone to come meet her."

The welcome reception will take place at the library at 30 East St. from 5 to 7 p.m.

Before taking this position, Goldin spent 11 years as the children's librarian at Easthampton's Emily Williston Memorial Library, where she also served as acting director twice. Goldin holds a master's degree in library and information services, has worked as a teacher and has authored 19 published children's books.

Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.