Second annual event gets kids walking

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Photo and Press Release by: Jeannie Frisco
Posted by: Vicky Thomas

Part of Walk to School Week:

Instead of sitting in classrooms and riding buses Wednesday, many area students got out and got their hearts pumping with events scheduled as part of International Walk to School Week.

The event is sponsored by Activate Martinsville-Henry County, a local group that encourages healthy lifestyles. Its mission is to make Martinsville and Henry County a more fun, healthy and desirable place to live by increasing walking, biking and increased physical activity as a part of everyday life.

“This is the second year Activate has championed this event partnering with local schools,” said Melissa Gravely, education/outreach coordinator for Activate. “We are ecstatic to see more schools embracing the idea of walking school buses. This event, where students were dropped off at a designated site and were escorted by teachers, parents and other volunteers to their schools, has grown from one school participating last year to three schools this year.”

In Henry County, Laurel Park Middle School, Collinsville Primary and Axton, Irisburg and John Redd Smith elementary schools participated in walking activities.

Laurel Park students walked the track during their P.E. classes. P.E. teacher Mellissa Carroll, who coordinated their “Walk to School Day” event, tied the walking activity to a math problem. Students used math skills to calculate the distance from four students’ homes and then figured out how many laps each student would have to walk to meet that distance.

At Collinsville Primary, a P.E. teacher created a virtual walk to local establishments (i.e. Wal-Mart, a grocery store, the mailbox). At each stop, students talked about making good and healthy choices and ways to increase physical activity.

In Martinsville, three schools participated in walking school buses. Patrick Henry Elementary School students met at nearby J. Frank Wilson Park early Wednesday morning and walked to school from the park. Martinsville Middle School students met at nearby BB & T parking lot on Church Street and walked to the entrance of the school on Brown Street.

At Albert Harris Elementary School, students met at two drop-off locations: one at nearby Dr. Dana O. Baldwin Memorial Park and the other on the corner of Smith Road and Swanson Street. After getting dropped off, the students walked to the main entrance in the back of the school.

“We have so much to be proud of here, and I feel so lucky to be part of a community that embraces its children and goes the extra mile to volunteer and be a part of this wonderful event,” Allyson Rothrock, interim director of The Harvest Foundation, said in a news release.

“There were fireman, rangers from Fairystone Park, Sparky, the fire dog, parents and others out at 7 this morning ensuring our children were escorted safely to their prospective schools.”

Jeannie Frisco, Activate program director, said student participation was up 57 percent from last year. “Children got up, got out and got active, fighting the current obesity trend for at least one day,” Frisco said. “It appeared everyone was enjoying themselves as they socialized and walked with friends. We look forward to even more schools participating next year.”

Activate gave incentives to schools and students that participated in Walking School Bus events. The school that has the highest ratio of student participation will receive a “Golden Sneaker” award and $750. This money can be used to provide educational opportunities encouraging increased physical activity for students and/or families; to purchase school equipment to promote physical activity among students; or to support school-wide contests or events that encourage increased physical activity. Five students who participated in a Walking School Bus will win a $100 gift certificate to Foot Locker to purchase a new pair of walking shoes.

DRBA Float Explores River History

The Dan River Basin Association’s November 1 outing will be a 5-mile float on the Dan River from Madison to Jacob’s Creek. Meeting at 10:00 a.m. at the NC 704 Access in Madison, participants in the trip, coordinated by T and Lindley Butler of Wentworth, will paddle through seven navigation sites, well preserved nineteenth century river structures now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The historic sites will be interpreted by Dr. Lindley Butler, professor emeritus of history, who is an authority and popular lecturer on the history of navigation in the Dan River system.

Built in the 1820s and expanded as late as the 1880s, the navigation structures, which include sluices, landings, and wing dams, made the river usable by flat-bottomed batteaux, the long, narrow workhorses of nineteenth century river commerce in the region.

According to Butler, “These structures direct the water into channels through rapids and ledges that would have blocked the batteaux, each of which carried several tons of goods. Present-day recreational users enjoy the effects of these structures, which have been self-maintaining for over 130 years.”

He adds, “Because of these structures, the river is rated as Class 1, suitable for novice paddlers. The work done in the 19th century enables us to float the Dan in Rockingham County even in times of extreme drought.”

Below Madison, which was chartered in 1815 as the head of batteau navigation, points of interest include the confluence of the Mayo River and Robertson’s Fish Trap Sluice, which incorporates a widened fish weir originally built to collect fish making their great spawning runs upriver from the coast.

Cross Rock Rapid, which provides footings for the US 220 Bypass Bridge, is followed closely by Slink Shoal Sluice and Wing Dams, recognized by a nearby state historic marker. Called the navigation system’s “crown jewel,” Slink Shoal consists of the longest sluice, or channel, and the only surviving log-crib wing dams on the river.

Boaters will stop for lunch at Lone Island, the site of a ford that was in use by 1769 and served as a crossing during the Revolutionary War.

Revolutionary-era Governor Alexander Martin lived on the bluff above Jacob’s Creek Landing, which is just upstream from the private take-out, used by permission of the owners.

Participants in the outing are asked to bring boat, life jacket, lunch and water, to dress in layers of artificial (quick-drying) fabric and to sign a waiver.

To reach the NC 704 Access Point from north or south, take US 220 to the Madison, NC exit at NC 704. Turn west on NC 704 toward Madison. At the first traffic light, turn right onto Market Street (small brown sign directs to Dan River Access). Go two blocks, and turn right onto Murphy Street. Cross the railroad tracks and turn right at the bottom of the hill onto Water Street. Continue under the bridge. The access site is on the left.

From the east, take NC 704 to Madison and follow the directions above.

From the west, take US 311 to Madison. At the traffic light just past the brick Methodist Church, turn left onto Market Street. Go two blocks, and turn right onto Murphy Street. Cross the railroad tracks and turn right at the bottom of the hill onto Water Street. Continue under the bridge. The access site is on the left.

Outings and meetings of the Dan River Basin Association are open to the public without charge.

For more information, contact T Butler, members@danriver.org or 336-349-5727.

For membership information, visit http://www.danriver.org/.

Press release by: T. Butler
Posted by: Vicky Thomas

Are you a Friend of the Fieldale Trail?

The Fieldale Trail is growing and it needs YOUR help! Thanks to a grant from the Dominion Foundation, DRBA has acquired funding to extend the existing trail by one mile downstream along the Smith River. That means more trail for walking, biking, birdwatching, and jogging!

Three volunteer workdays are planned this fall to begin developing the trail:

Sunday, October 19th, from 2-5pm
Wednesday, October 22nd, from 10-2pm
Sunday, November 2nd, from 2-5pm

Tasks will include: Removing debris, trimming back limbs, and clearing the path for mechanized trail building equipment to come in on a later date. Refreshments will be provided for all volunteers.

Volunteers can register for a date by contacting Jennifer Doss at 276-634-2545 or jdoss@danriver.org. Information packets for the workdays will be provided to registered volunteers.