Walking with Wendy
Vancouver Discovery Walks
April 25 - 27, 1997
Day 1 of the Vancouver Discovery Walk: Friday, April 25 was a gorgeous, mostly sunny and warm day in Vancouver, Washington. The Mayor of Vancouver hosted a lunch to celebrate the Vancouver Discovery Walk and the visitors from their sister city in Japan who are visiting to walk and tour. Our Discovery Walk Committee and the AVA Executive Council attended the lunch, enjoying the salmon and other items and talking with business and community leaders in Vancouver.
At the registration area in the Red Lion Inn at the Quay, folks dropped in all afternoon to pick up their packets and register for the walk. From 3 pm to 4 pm the city provided a bus to take walkers from the Red Lion to the start point of the afternoon Mayor's Walk at Clark College. 
A Clark College band entertained the waiting walkers. At 4 pm the Boy Scouts carried in the Parade of IML Nation Flags, and the Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard and AVA President Lynn Clark cut the ribbon across the sidewalk and the crowd began their walk, falling in behind the Boy Scouts. Charles Saundby and Peter Morrell from the the Wellingborough, England Waendel Walk (pictured here with me, Wendy) carried their flags and marched in full costume. The Boy Scouts ended their walk at one kilometer.
There were about 200 walkers for the afternoon event (not counting the 150 workers who did the workers' walk), which visited Officers Row and historic Fort Vancouver, then down to the Columbia River and along the riverfront trail to the Red Lion. The river is at flood stage and is only about a foot below swamping the sidewalk at the lowest point. The scenery was marvelous in full springtime bloom. At each intersection where there might be confusion we had Human Arrows to point out the correct way.
At the finish, books were stamped and folks lined up to buy pizza and beer. A gospel barbershop quartet entertained. Then Mayor Pollard, Lynn Clark, and the Soroptomist Club (sponsor for the opening ceremony) gave short presentations and greeted guests.
The headline entertainment was Celtic Pride, a local duo who play and sing Scottish and Irish folk music. The crowd loved them, and there were still 50 folks left in the crowd after the second set - even though the food and drink concession had closed 45 minutes earlier! A great time was had by all. This was far more than "Just a Walk." It was truly a social occasion where folks came, met new and old friends, enjoyed a walk together and then many hugs and chats and talks and fun. And it was just the beginning of a weekend of walking and fun.
Day 2: Saturday photos and story
Day 3: Sunday photos and story
Photos © Wendy Bumgardner
Previous Walking With Wendy:
April 12-13: Downtown Portland and Tualatin, Oregon
April 19: Champoeg State Park March For Parks, Oregon
Walking Trip and Event Reports
