- April 18, 2024
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Walking club offers socialization, exercise.
Wayne Grant
News Editor
It’s always fun to visit someplace again for the first time.
As I recently walked from Granada Plaza to the river and back, with a few detours, I retraced steps I had taken many times, but there was a sense of newness as I walked with several people I had never met before, and some who were not familiar with the area.
I participated in a “fun walk” with the Happy Wanderers Walking Club.
I’ve long been intrigued by the name of this peripatetic group, and when I found they planned a trip in my own hood, I thought I’d go along.
Their Wednesday walks are about an hour, and the group tends to stay together. The walks on Sunday, which offer a choice of 5K or 10K, are more structured, but still strictly noncompetitive with everyone walking at their own pace.
The walks are chosen for scenery or historic interest, and can be pretty much anywhere.
“We travel forests, beaches, cities and dirt trails,” said Ormond Beach resident Mary-Ann Westbrook.
As we walked, amid a steady hum of conversation, some pointed out the sights to those who were less familiar.
“Here’s the waterfall,” Westbrook said as we viewed the water cascading down the rocks at Memorial Art Museum, screened from Granada Boulevard by some bushes.
“People drive by it every day and don’t even know it’s here,” she said.
The log homes on Orange Avenue provided a historic angle.
“That area is interesting,” said Nancy Calay of Edgewater, as we headed back out onto John Anderson Drive. “I never would have seen that.”
Club President John McClellan said walkers view many things they never would have seen.
“When you’re driving you miss everything,” he said.
But the main attraction to the walking club seems to be the social aspect.
“It’s the camaraderie,” Westbrook said.
It’s a good way to get exercise while socializing and meeting people from a variety of backgrounds, according to several of the walkers.
The Happy Wanderers Walking Club, based in Port Orange, is part of American Volkssport Association, which has 250 clubs and 1,800 trails, nationwide.
The walks on Sunday are sanctioned by the association, and participants log kilometers to earn badges. There are also walks available anytime, simply by picking up a trail guide and logging in at a station.
The Wednesday walks are not as structured.
“We might see a Christmas decoration down a street, and say, ‘Let’s go that way,” Westbrook said, laughing.
McClellan explained that volksport started in Germany, providing exercise for those who did not participate in sports, and the walks today offer the same benefits.
Visit happywanderersfl.org.
