Start gathering up your teams of friends, family and co-workers now.
Ladysmith Parks, Recreation and Culture, the Ladysmith and District Credit Union and the Chronicle are looking for teams to participate in a walk/scavenger hunt to celebrate International Move for Health Day May 10.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., teams of two or three can get together and walk one of three scavenger hunt routes on their lunch break. The routes, which all start and finish at Ladysmith and District Credit Union [LDCU], will take teams on a 20- to 30-minute walk through the community and will give them a chance to learn more about Ladysmith by answering scavenger hunt questions. Teams can choose to walk downtown, to Transfer Beach or to the Frank Jameson Community Centre.
Teams can win prizes for answering questions correctly.
“I think it is a great way to get the community together and be able to combine a learning event with being able to be active at the same time,” said Sue Glenn, Ladysmith Parks, Recreation and Culture fitness supervisor. “We’re encouraging local workplaces and the community to come out and do this scavenger hunt challenge and get some exercise while they’re at it.”
The LDCU held a “walk week” last week, and employees participated in two scavenger hunt walks.
Kim Judson, chair of the LDCU health and safety committee, says they were well received.
“In general, people came back very excited,” she said. “People came back energized and happy and thanked us.”
Judson is excited to see their initiative spilling out into the community and says Glenn and Chronicle publisher Teresa McKinley have been great in picking up the momentum.
“I’m excited for people to explore their town again, for them to get excited in their history and notice the beauty we live in because it’s easy to take it for granted,” said Judson. “The health benefits we have simply from walking around our beautiful town are huge.”
Glenn says she is a huge fan of these types of activities because they’re so much fun, people don’t realize they’re exercising.
Move for Health Day is an international event created in 2002 by the World Health Organization to promote physical activity.
To mark the occasion, there will be a variety of free classes at the Frank Jameson Community Centre from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., including introductory Hatha yoga, introductory Nordic walking, family fitness, Zumba, boxerfit and an additional pickleball session.
“We’re trying to be very inclusive and get the whole community involved,” said Glenn.
The Move for Health Day classes are free, but people are asked to pre-register through the Frank Jameson Community Centre.
“What we’re trying to do through Parks and Rec and partnering with the Chronicle and Ladysmith and District Credit Union is trying to engage the community in a celebration of being active through a variety of events,” said Glenn.
