When I was little, community never meant anything more than a large group of people gathering together in a single vicinity. More so than not, I believed that the gatherings were uninteresting, mainly geared towards the adult audience. It was only then that I heard about Derby Days.

After having lived in Redmond my whole life, you can imagine my surprise when I found out that Redmond had an event that encouraged fun for children and teenagers.

We’re constantly told from a young age to restrict ourselves, to contain our urges to run, scream, anything that may be seen as socially unacceptable. And yet, here’s an event that almost calls for those actions. As a young child, I was thrilled, ecstatic even, to be a part of a celebration that motivated the intermingling of people that would have normally never been involved with each other. Some would almost describe it to be the event of a lifetime. Any kid could only dream of a place where restricted acts became the norm. Derby Days became an event that I counted down to every year, even when I entered high school.

Admittedly, my perception of Derby Days has shifted quite significantly.

I began to notice a lot more than just the children’s activities: the carnival, parade, local booths that advertised reliefs for homeless shelters; everything seemed so different compared to when I was 6.

It only took me a few more years to get involved with the planning and volunteering in Derby Days itself.

At the age of 14, I finally became a part of an event that inspired me from childhood, and I took it upon myself to inspire others. It had been around this time when community service became a passion, and I knew that I wanted to continue on a path where its provision would be large. Volunteering at Derby Days definitely was not something I would call easy, and it gave me a newfound respect for the individuals behind planning the entirety of the event.

Yet, I also took something incredibly important out of the experience: some of these kids will end up being as interested as I had been. That very fact pushed me onward in my endeavor with Derby Days.

Now, at the age of 16, I was no longer behind the lines of the event or in a multicolored t-shirt with “VOLUNTEER” printed across the back. I sported a model camera only to take pictures and interview individuals for the Redmond Reporter.

After having seen Derby Days through the eyes of a child, a high schooler, and reporter, I lived Derby Days through various lenses, and every lens had something special that I could take away for the future.

To a kid, it’s an event where all of the rules at home can finally be broken. To a teenager, it’s a place where friends can meet together, but to a reporter, you see Redmond as how it is: a community.

Derby Days elicits a community morale that many other events fail to provide, and after having attended for almost 10 years, the morale only spreads to greater lengths. This year, Derby Days celebrated its 75th anniversary, and considering the hard work that the city of Redmond put into the event, children and adults can count on 75 more years of inspiration and dedication.

Michelle Abelev is 16 and a Redmond resident who will be a senior at International Community School. She has spent the last two weeks job shadowing at the Redmond Reporter.