By Linde Clemens

The Park District staff planned a health walk for one spring weekend.  They arranged for healthy food, from Panera, and had guides to be with people to walk from Riverside to Blanchard Street.  It did help that the weather cooperated, but some of the people I walked with were surprised that they had walked a mile and were fine, not exhausted, or even tired!  Along the way they commented on the condition of the walking path, the river and the river banks. Many of them knew people there that they didn't know would be there.

I thought it was exciting because of the wide range of people, some who had never walked the trail before, how much they enjoyed the walk and felt the time was a social event in their lives.  I wonder how many came back to walk again, on their own!

Among the agencies involved were the city recreation department, at least one of the health departments and, or course, the Park District. I had hoped we could make it a yearly event, a Rite of Spring, to kick off "opening" the parks for the summer!  It was a wonderful event!

Oh! It was free!!!