Accomplishments of 12 Senior Y-walkers celebrated at awards ceremony
On Friday, March 18, the Awesome Seniors’ walkers, who participate in the “Seniors Walk Free at the Y” program, joined with the Active Older Adult Y-members for a lovely lunch and lively Bingo games, warmly hosted by the YMCA’s Abby Jones. The Boothbay Region Health & Wellness Foundation used the occasion to present awards and gift certificates to the members of this program who had walked the most times during the past year. (Notice that the most frequent walkers are not the youngest ones, but they are people who have been walking at the Y for two years now.)
Connie Machon presented awards to the following people:
Lynette Page (87 years old) was the first prize winner, based on number of days walked. She walked 77 days in the past year for a total of 60 miles. Lynette also walked 60 days in 2014, with a combined total of 102 miles walked over the two years.
Royall Dodge (86) couldn’t attend the awards ceremony, since he’s recovering from heart surgery, and expects to be back walking soon. His wife, Eleanor (84), accepted the awards for both of them. Royall walked 73 days this year for a total of 58.3 miles. Eleanor walked 72 days, for a total of 66 miles. The Dodges have logged a combined total of 221 miles on the Y track over the last two years.
Marilyn Goode (age 70) walked 73 days this past year, for a total of 73 miles. She has walked 109 miles at the Y track in the last two years.
Mary Matthews (88) walked 72 days this year for a total of 56 miles. She also walked last year and has walked 111 miles in the last two years.
Sandra Lowe (74) walked 69 days this year for a total of 76 miles. She totaled 159 miles on the Y track over the last two years.
Barbara Hamilton (67) walked 64 days this year, for a total of 128.5 miles. Over the past two years, she has walked 148.5 miles on the Y track.
Harriett Cowdery (88) walked 53 days this year, for a total of 48.1 miles. When she began walking in March 2014, she relied on her walker. Now she walks without assistance. She rests often to stop catch her breath. Yet, over the past two years, she has walked 87 miles!
The next group of award winners are those who joined the program more recently:
Bob Crink (80) walked 53 days this year for a total of 92 miles. He started walking 8 laps/day and has increased to 16 laps/day.
Bill Dunton (72) walked 44 days this year for a total of 67 miles. He started at 6 laps/day and is now at 16 laps/day.
Dennis Volpe (71) walked 34 days for a total of 93 miles this year. He began with 16 laps/day and is now at 25 laps/day.
Barbara DeGarmo (68) has walked 31 days and a total of 70.5 miles this year. She walks between 16 and 24 laps per day.
Finally, Trudie Seybold (98) was honored as the oldest member of the regular Y-Walkers. She usually walks two or three laps with her walker each session.