By Christina Corrales-Toynewcastle@isspress.com

Newcastle actor Ashton Her-rild isn’t mean or rude, but that may be hard to believe for audiences who saw him star as the bully Scut Farkus

in The 5th Avenue Theatre’s 2010 production of “A Christmas Story, The Musical!”

The 15-year-old Liberty High School sophomore is a hardworking student who enjoys doing a little act-ing on the side.

But for some reason, the charis-matic teen keeps getting cast as an antagonist.

“I think it comes with the red hair,” he said as he smiled and pointed to his ginger locks. “You see a lot of movies with red-haired bullies just because they may be different.”

Fortunately, Ashton doesn’t mind, and it’s a good thing because he was cast as Jack the Jerk in his film debut, “All I Want is Christmas.”

The family-friendly movie tells the story of a young boy who simply

wants to celebrate Christmas, but the thing is, he’s Jewish. So, the boy trades places with another kid his age and hilarity ensues.

Ashton’s character is sort of the bad guy. Jack the Jerk picks on the

main character, but it isn’t all what it seems; the character has some-what of a broken home life, Ashton said.

The movie was filmed locally in 2011 by director Sue Corcoran. The film’s setting, the fictional city of Christmastown, Wash., was actually Leavenworth, and many of the inte-rior scenes were shot in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

It was Ashton’s first movie, but thankfully there were some act-ing veterans on set that he could observe and learn from.

COMMUNITYs s

The Issaquah Press

Section

B WednesdayNovember 7, 2012

By Warren Kagarisewkagarise@isspress.com

Heather Matthews set out to raise dollars for the Issaquah Food & Cloth-ing Bank amid the busy holiday season and, in the process, created a Thanks-giving tradition.

In 2010, she launched the Issaquah Turkey Trot, a 5K fundraiser, after she ran in similar races in Se-attle and decided to import the idea to Issaquah to raise dollars for the local food bank.

The 3.12-mile race returns Nov. 22 for another holiday outing. The event is geared for families and, like a treasured recipe passed from generation, is a Thanksgiving tradition for some participants.

“People are looking for a way to give back and for something to do that day

that shows they’re thankful for what they have,” Mat-thews said.

The initial Issaquah Tur-key Trot raised more than $4,600 for the nonprofit food bank and, last year, donations amounted to $8,000 and more than 200 pounds of food. Matthews set a goal to raise $15,000 for the food bank at the upcoming event.

“It has blown my mind how this community has supported this event,” she said. “It has shocked me, in how much it’s grown. I can’t believe it.”

The number of runners increased between 2010 and 2011, and Matthews expects more than 1,000 participants to join the upcoming race.

Children can participate

By John Leggettip-sports@isspress.com

Issaquah resident Charles Herrick would be a shoo-in to claim the cool million awarded to the an-nual winner in the popular reality T.V. show “Survivor” that has been airing for nearly 25 years.

This saintly globetrot-ter has helped and lived among the desperate and starving of a Bombay ghetto among pestilence and vermin, and lived to tell about it.

“The rats in the slum were not so bad,” Herrick recalled. “All they did was stop beside you while you slept and lick the sweat off of you for its salt content.

“Even the 100-degree evening heat wasn’t so bothersome, but when I would cross the bridge that spanned the toxic Ulhas-nager River on my way to check up on the unclean, untouchable and hope-lessly ill, my eyes would burn profusely from the fumes wafting up from the heavily polluted water,” he added. “The river’s water was teaming with chemi-cals and it actually caught on fire twice in the few months I was there.”

Finding a cureBefore that, Herrick was

the only white man living side-by-side in a com-pletely primitive African village. No running water, no electricity, but plenty of mysterious and fatal diseases to go around.

What was in it for him? Nothing, although he did manage to parlay the experience into a book, “Breath of Kenya.” He had no financial backing and was armed only with the limited medical knowledge

he had gleaned from his days as a pre-med student at the University of Wash-ington; he opted for a law degree instead.

Even with his minimal resources, he was able to diagnose the source of continuous, demoralizing deaths of members of this Kenyan tribe.

“Personal hygiene was very nearly nonexistent and the customary greet-ing among these folks was shaking hands … repeat-edly shaking hands with everyone constantly,” said Herrick, who took his the-ory to the Kenyan Ministry of Health and convinced its medical personnel to visit the tribe.

The KMH doctors were able to confirm Herrick’s findings, determining the epidemic was caused by worms, often causing extreme and agonizing discomfort or more likely death.

Once a cure was imple-mented and people stopped dying, Herrick said his reward was the beautiful smiles and gratitude dis-played on their faces.

“Americans have to stop trying to be normal and just getting by and instead achieve amazing things in their lives … You know, get outside of their com-fort zone a bit,” said the optimistic Herrick, a 1970 graduate of Roosevelt High School.

A meager existenceIf you think this former

Roughrider is an eccentric who was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, you would be wrong. He grew up with three siblings in a minis-

CONTRIBUTED

Runners race in the 2011 Issaquah Turkey Trot 5K near Pickering Barn during the holiday event.

WHAT TO KNOWIssaquah Turkey Trot49 a.m. Nov. 224The entry fee for adults and children 11 and older is $25. Register before Nov. 11 to be guaranteed a T-shirt.4The cost for children 10 and younger is $5, and includes a T-shirt and Gobble Wobble punch card.4The route starts and ends at City Hall Northwest, 1775 12th Ave. N.W.4Email questions to gob-ble@issaquahturkeytrot.org. Learn more about the event at www.issaquahtur-keytrot.org.

Thanksgiving fundraiser aims to stuff food bank’s coffers

See TROT, Page B3

CONTRIBUTED

Charles Herrick shows his silver medal Aug. 3 after winning the 400-meter run in the masters division of the 2012 USA Track and Field National Championships in Chicago.

Former CEO turns globetrotting philanthropist

See HERRICK, Page B3

Elvis Munis is cycling around the globe to raise funds to educate students in Tanzania.

The native Tanzanian and ardent naturalist launched the project to help other Tanzanians obtain the education necessary to manage the country’s abundant natu-ral resources.

The trip’s total distance measures about 50,000 miles and is plotted to touch down in 41 coun-tries, including the United States. Munis reached Is-saquah in recent days, and local hosts plan to hold a

fundraiser for the around-the-globe effort Nov. 14. The event at Vino Bella in-cludes a presentation from Munis and a silent auction to raise funds.

The project, dubbed ChileToKili — for Chile to Kilimanjaro — is a regis-tered nonprofit organiza-tion. The trip started in Chile and is poised to end in Tanzania. (Mount Kili-manjaro is in the north-east corner of Tanzania.)

The ride is unsupported; Munis is responsible for finding and carrying food and water, and finding shelter. He spends most

nights camping in tents or staying with contacts along the way.

Munis set out to raise $100,000 for the organi-zation on the ride. The money is meant for 10 one-year scholarships for Tanzanian students, and to support ongoing education at the Tanzania Conservation Resource Centre, a nonprofit or-ganization dedicated to supporting researchers and students focused on natural resource issues in Tanzania.

ChileToKili’s board is comprised of experts in

Tanzanian conservation, including researchers and scientists.

Global fundraising trek comes to IssaquahHOW TO HELP

ChileToKili presentation and fundraiser46:30 p.m. Nov. 144Vino Bella, 99 Front St. N.4Learn more about Elvis Munis’ around-the-world ride, and read dispatches from the journey at http://chiletokili.com.

BY LAURIE CLARK PHOTOGRAPHY

Ashton Herrild, of Newcastle, plays antagonist Jack the Jerk in a still from the locally-shot film ‘All I Want is Christmas.’

BIG SCREEN BULLYNewcastle teen makes film debut in ‘All I Want is Christmas’

See DEBUT, Page B3

CONTRIBUTED

Ashton Herrild (right), poses with David DeLuise who co-star in the local-ly-shot film ‘All I Want is Christmas.’

B1

WHAT TO KNOWSee local actor Ashton Herrild star

in the film ‘All I Want is Christmas,’ available for purchase on video on demand. Check whether your pro-vider offers the movie at all-i-want-is-christmas.com.