Coalition invites citizens to get moving

Winter’s harsh conditions are no excuse to stay on the couch.

The High Country Wellness Coalition, a group of citizens dedicated to building healthy communities and supporting wellness initiatives, is encouraging citizens to take a stroll on Winter Walk Day Feb. 6.

Winter Walk Day is a province-wide initiative that challenges Albertans to get outside and walk and log their time into an online database.

“I’ve gotten the schools involved in the past and collected their minutes, but I’m not going to that extent this year,” said coalition chair Linda Nelson. “This is a volunteer organization and I’m stretched really thin.”

Instead, Nelson is spreading the word in Black Diamond and Turner Valley to drum up participants.

“I’m hoping some of our seniors - if they’re not comfortable being outside they might go to the high school and walk,” she said. “It’s really the only place in town they can go. We don’t have a significant structure in town for indoor walking.”

Oilfields High School has invited seniors into the building for years, giving them a place to walk when the conditions aren’t favourable, said Carol Gauzer, the school’s data facilitator.

“It’s a completely welcoming environment,” he said. “We love having them. The kids love to say ‘hi’ in the hallways.”

Gauzer said with above average temperatures this winter, she has yet to see a senior strolling through the school’s hallways.

She hopes that will change on Winter Walk Day.

“We’re missing them,” she said. “They can come check into the front office to do a little bit of paperwork. We give them a schedule so they know when the best time to come is.”

Nelson wants to see families out walking, too.

“Hopefully it will be a nice day that moms can get out there with their little ones,” she said. “Hopefully it will be stroller-friendly weather. The whole thing is to get out and walk. We’re all about keeping people active and healthy.”

Nelson is leading by example and registered herself. On Feb. 6, she will record the number of minutes she spent walking.

“The coalition is all about promoting healthy and active lifestyles,” she said. “This is a day that’s been designated Winter Walk Day. I feel our role is to advertise it and promote it and support it and encourage it. We’re all about keeping people active and healthy.”

The coalition has been promoting Winter Walk Day for about five years, said Nelson. Therefore, many people in the two towns are aware of it.

“I feel people will get involved in it as part of a community thing,” she said. “One year it was so cold we went to the Flare ‘n’ Derrick. We got dizzy but we walked for half an hour.”

With just three or four active members, Nelson said it’s tough to find the time to organize something more official.

“Some (members) are still in the world of work and I’m retired so it falls back on me and how much do I want to be doing for it,” she said. “The coalition has a few little projects ongoing. Some years you have to pick and choose what to do.”

For more details or to register go to winterwalkday.ca