Walks, runs or cycling events for charity are ubiquitous, offering a healthy way for folks to donate time and resources for worthy causes.

But a benefit 5K walk/run that’s based on a community’s historic confrontations with robbers and that features a payout — in silver — to the winner?

Priceless.

That’s just the way things will play out — and pay out — on Saturday, Sept. 27, for the town of Orwell’s First Annual Silver Heist Walk/Run & Little Bandits Bolt. Entry fees ($25 for adults, $20 for children) will benefit the Orwell Village School Booster Club and the Orwell Historical Museum.

Both the booster club and museum are nonprofit, volunteer-driven ventures that seek to provide enrichment opportunities on a bare-bones budget. Both groups are always searching for additional resources to carry out their missions. Danielle Rougeau, president of the Orwell Historical Society board, said former OHS board member Mercedes Kemp’s research into Orwell’s history provided the path to a novel fundraising idea.

Kemp’s research brought to life such historical facts as:

• Deacon Ebenezer (Eber) Murray, who arrived in Orwell in 1783, would blow a conch shell at 9 p.m. every evening to signal the time for evening prayers. Murray was known as the only man in town at that time who had a clock.

• In October 1862, just before the town fair, outlaws swept through Orwell, robbing several homes. Among those affected was Marcellus Royce, who lost $30 in silver to the thieves.

• In 1863, the First National Bank of Orwell was chartered, making it the oldest national bank in New England. During its continuous 162 years of dedicated service, the Young family has managed it — including the 5^th-generation and current bank manager, Bryan Young. Back in 1902, bandits attempted to dynamite the bank’s safe but failed. Still, they managed to steal safety deposit boxes, one of them containing a ring belonging to Myrtie P. Brooks. After fleeing town, the thieves camped at the county line, leaving behind the scattered contents of their stolen loot. It was Mabel Young (né Wells), the great grandmother of the current bank manager, who identified the stolen ring.

“(Kemp) was surprised to learn about some of the burglaries that happened and the traditions in town,” Rougeau said. “We thought, ‘Why not base a fundraising event on Orwell history?’”

Organizers rolled up their sleeves and mapped out a run/walk that would appeal to all ages while borrowing from some of the town’s most interesting and infamous historical events.

As a tribute to the late Ebenezer Murray, the Silver Heist Walk/Run 5K will begin with the blast of a conch shell.

Silver Heist participants will collect a wooden token resembling the late Myrtie Wilcox’s ring at the bandits’ fictitious camp, located at the race’s halfway point, before dashing south on scenic North Orwell Road. The race will finish at the town green.

The winner of the race will claim $30 worth of silver — the very same amount stolen from Marcellus Royce in 1862. All in-person participants will take home a custom Silver Heist Walk/Run 5K T-shirt, a wooden ring token and a finisher’s silver chip.

For the youngest racers, the Little Bandits Bolt will feature a dash across the Orwell Village School soccer field.

Can’t be there in person? There’s a virtual “getaway edition” for adults and kids that allows participants to channel the spirit of the 1902 heist from their own hometown. Run through your neighborhood, a favorite park, or even a scenic trail, imagining the bandits’ escape as they fled with stolen silver and treasures. The $17 entry for the getaway edition is open until Sept. 25, with all medals, T-shirts, and grains of silver shipping the first week of October.

The registration deadline for the in-person race is Sept. 19. The race will be capped at 150 participants. For all the details, and to register for the race, go to tinyurl.com/tjz9fps5. 

Rougeau said organizers hope to make the Silver Heist Walk/Run an annual event. And she lauded the fundraising partnership between the custodians of Orwell’s history and the school boosters who are creating more opportunities for local children.

“The history is helping the future,” she said. 

John Flowers is at [email protected].