Wednesday was a coordinated effort across Iowa offering people the opportunity to participate in being physically active together.

Iowa’s Healthiest State Walk Initiative saw several organized groups enjoying a stroll together as the young infants from the Early Learning Center, as well as the kindergarten through 12th graders and staff of Paton-Churdan School District, and community members walked together in Churdan. Organizer Shair Minnihan is the Churdan Library Director and she told Raccoon Valley Radio that she likes to get the community together with the P-C students for an opportunity to walk together as she described her favorite part of the event is being around the youth.

“And then it’s so awesome because then when you look, the big kids will walk with the little kids. But usually they kind of team up and pair, walk in groups. And there’s always a few that have to push the limit and see if they can run the whole way and be the first ones up and around (the city park) and back, so we have those. And then we have some that are glad to be outdoors and they don’t hurry.”   

P-C Principal Annie Smith said their school district enjoys being part of the community and giving back to the support that they have shown them every year, along with the overall goal of the Healthiest State Walk, which is to be physically active.

“I feel like maybe the world is getting into a little bit more sedentary lifestyle and we want to make sure that we’re continuing to encourage students, and adults, and families, and our community members to just move, to get active, to go out. And so I think this shows them that you don’t have to do big things all the time, you can do something as simple as just a nice little walk just to get you up and moving.”     

Another organized walk within Greene County was hosted by the staff of the H.F. & Maude E.  Marchant Memorial Library in Scranton.