There will be some interesting characters marching in the Holland Happening parade next week in Oak Harbor, and we do mean interesting.

You’ll see elves and hobbits and all manner of characters from the pages of JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth books come to life, but it’s all for a good cause.

“It’s going to be a nerd’s dream,” laughed Cara Gabelein, one of this year’s participants.

“Pretty much all the main characters from Tolkien’s books will be marching. We have a big huge Treebeard, elves, hobbits – everything you can think of,” she said.
Ring Quest is the theme for this year’s fundraiser, organized by Clairann Haney, owner of Soul Liberty Publishing and Ministries in Oak Harbor.

“I’ve collected a group of younger adults who want to get out there and do something, but they don’t have hundreds of dollars to donate,” Haney said. “So, they give their time and donate supplies.”

Because everything is donation-based, all money from Ring Quest will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

“Everything we collect goes to the charity,” said Haney, who has participated in Holland Happening for about eight years, with a different movie or story theme each year.

There will be a booth set up at the Holland Happening street fair where people can have pictures taken with their favorite character and characters will also wander the carnival grounds.

Children will be able to participate in their own Ring Quest as well. There will be three different riddles for kids to figure out. If they solve the riddle, they collect a ring.

“I love seeing people come out and be like ‘Oh my gosh, I love “Lord of the Rings!”’ When we tell them we’re doing it for charity, they just get that much more excited.” Gabelein said. “Besides, who doesn’t love hobbits?