Lakewood Walks!
Call it fate - a Manor Park resident with “step” in her name won the grand prize basket at the Lakewood Walks Main Street event on August 22. Catherine Step was convinced by her neighbor to participate in the event as part of their weekly trek to the Farmer’s Market. With kids in tow, they did the two-mile walk.
“The best part was seeing so many people I know walking on Detroit,” Catherine remarked when she walked to the Main Street office to pick up her prize. The basket had over $220 worth of gift certificates and prizes, including giant glass mugs from The Winking Lizard, a vase from Déjà Vu, a book from Library Friends, and gift cards from Geiger’s, Quiznos, Blue Onion, Drug Mart, Souper Market, Lion & Blue, Phoenix Coffee, Crazy Rita’s, and Pacers. Kari Zimmerman, a Woodward Avenue resident, won a Key Bank duffle bag and a Huntington Bank t-shirt.
Downtown merchants, who saw as many as 160 walkers come through their doors that day, were delighted with the experience. “This is the kind of exposure that can really benefit our downtown businesses. We look forward to participating in future walks,” said Chas Geiger, of Geiger’s Clothing and Sports.
Lakewood Hospital partnered with Main Street Lakewood on this event to encourage its employees to make walking part of their daily routine. Hospital balloons, a tent, table, and flyers put the finishing touches on an event coordinated with the help of Susan Grimberg, David Pauer, and Amy Jamieson-Petonic. Because of its success, this event will be presented as a “best practice” to other Cleveland Clinic hospitals to promote employee active living and community support.
Another partner in the event was the Division of Aging, which scheduled 8 volunteers to work under the tent in front of the Lakewood Professional Building. Ron Balach, Margie Adam, Thelma Marieni, Leslie Spellacy, Patrick Spellacy, Ruth Svoboda, Amanda LaQuatra, and Sue Becker helped to pass out bottles of water donated by Giant Eagle and goodie bags, which included donated gifts such as the latest issue of the Observer and a healthy 100-calorie snack from the hospital. These volunteers were the heroes on this sweltering day.
In total, 160 participants walked 278 miles last Wednesday - a true community event that demonstrated our city's walkability. This is one event definitely worth repeating. Stay tuned!
