Travel the Trails this Saturday
Annie Bohling
Posted on Jun 17, 2015by Annie Bohling
Several Grand Island groups will come together at an event on Saturday to promote health and the use of local biking and hiking paths.
The free event, Travel the Trails, will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Suck’s Lake.
About 15 groups, such as Active Family Chiropractic & Acupuncture, the Grand Island Fire Department, the YMCA and the YWCA, will have booths set up around and west of Suck’s Lake, offering health-related activities, information and prizes.
“It’s like a health fair, but you have to walk in order to get to each station,” said Audrey Lutz, community impact coordinator for Heartland United Way.
Heartland United Way and Heroes for Healthy Hall County of the Central District Health Department are leading the event this year.
“Participants will get a passport and get it signed off at those stations,” Lutz said. “If they complete it, they’ll be entered into a drawing for a free bicycle from Wayne Cyclery.”
Lutz also serves on the Heroes for Healthy Hall County board. She said the group works on how to make Grand Island a more walkable community and will take over the Travel the Trails event in the future.
“Our hope is to get people out on the trails and create awareness of these wonderful trails that are available for biking, walking, running, Rollerblading,” said Karen Rathke, Heartland United Way president.
The other goal of the event, Rathke said, is to encourage better health in general.
“Obesity is trending higher than we’d like,” she said. “Two-thirds of our population in our area is trending in the wrong direction. We want to reverse that and encourage people to get healthier.”
Rathke referenced statistics about Hall, Hamilton and Merrick counties. Heartland United Way serves those as well as Howard County.
“We talk a lot about how we all need to be healthier,” Rathke said. “Hosting this event is an example of showing you a path — pardon the pun — to get healthier.”
Maps of local hiking and biking paths will be handed out at the event. She said the paths are just outside some people’s back doors.
“You don’t have to go far to connect to those trails,” Rathke said. “We want them to be used more. We often see people walking their animals outside, but their kids might be inside on the couch playing a video game.”
To view the news story, click this following link: http://www.nebraska.tv/story/29369813/health-group-hopes-families-retur…