Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
| By Sarah M. Corigliano Assistant Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW For the past 14 years, members of the East Longmeadow and Longmeadow Senior Centers have participated in The Challenge Walk a competition between the two towns, sponsored by the East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Center on Dwight Road. The Walk returns next Wednesday and participants from both towns are up for the challenge. Jenny Wood, president of East Longmeadow's Morning Glory Walkers said her group's three-day-a-week routine aptly prepares them for both the one mile and three mile option of the Challenge Walk. Of the 20 or so East Longmeadow women who will participate (their one male walker will not be available for the event), Wood predicts that Christine Millen, Betty Chones and Daphne Holliwell will be among the first to finish. Karen Michaelman, director of the Longmeadow Adult Center, said she doesn't have an exact figure on how many walkers will represent Longmeadow, but there's plenty who have been preparing. While Longmeadow's walking group does not yet have a name ("The Greenwood Walkers" is one option), they also meet weekly and have been preparing for this Challenge Walk. Jennifer Payette, admissions director for East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Center, said this event began as a way to reach out to the community. It is now officially a tradition. Each year the walkers start in Longmeadow either at St. Andrew's Church for the three mile walk, or the Longmeadow Shoppes for the one-mile walk and finish at East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Center. Weather permitting, residents of the nursing center watch the finish from outside and root the seniors on as they complete the competition. The first finishers in the one-mile and three-mile groups for each town receive recognition. And they are given a brunch reception at the facility. "They give us a beautiful brunch it's worth walking for," Wood added. Payette said the brunch is prepared by the Nursing Center's kitchen staff, led by Director of Food Services Shari Makowiec. Plus, she said, every walker gets a small gift for their participation. Anyone interested in joining in this year's Challenge Walk may call their senior center to sign up. The Walk begins Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. |