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Stettler surges ahead of Ponoka in ‘Walk ‘n’ Roll’ challenge

Stettler residents are logging in far more trips than Ponoka.
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Stettler’s Kevin Falkenberg has taken to riding his bike this summer, encouraged by a Mud Run he did with his daughter, and later the Walk ‘n’ Roll campaign. PHOTO BY MOUSH SARA JOHN

As July numbers were tallied, the town of Stettler has moved significantly ahead of Ponoka in the Stettler vs. Ponoka “Walk ‘n’ Roll” challenge. To date, Stettler has registered 6,460 trips to Ponoka’s 4,001.

The goal of the challenge, which goes until the end of August, is to encourage residents in both communities to leave their cars at home sometimes and walk or bike to their destinations.

“The total participation in both communities have been absolutely amazing,” said Grace Fix, vice-chair of the Heartland Beautification Committee and one of the organizers and proponents of the campaign. “About 10,461 times in three months residents have chosen to walk or bike rather than take a vehicle to their destination.”

This is Ponoka’s first summer with any kind of Walk ‘n’ Roll promotion so they are off to an excellent start, according to Fix.

“With this as Stettler’s third year of promoting Walk ‘n’ Roll, we have an advantage since more people are aware of it, like the concept, and have gotten involved by registering their trips,” Fix added.

But, Ponoka is highly promoting walking/biking to several of their major events in August so they could get some big numbers from that.

“So walk or bike to a destination and register your trips at www.stettler.net; distance is not important, and the ‘to’ and the ‘from’ trip count as two trips.”

Residents can register as often as they wish, Fix said, but however if they register each week, they are eligible for the weekly draw prize of the fun Walk ‘n’ Roll “I’m Just Less Driven” t-shirt.

In July the winners were Rhonda Sylvester, Rosemary Soles, Leanne Thiel and Red Frickelton.

The Walk ‘n’ Roll challenge is organized by the Heartland Beautification Committee and funded in part by the Stettler Wellness Network.