VILLAGE OF MINOA – Chilly weather notwithstanding, the recreational club CNY Folksmarch is welcoming walkers of all ages to get their steps in and join them in the village of Minoa this weekend.
Those who take part can choose to walk on either Saturday, Feb. 10 or Sunday, Feb. 11 depending on which day is preferred.
Just so the organizers can keep track of the amount of people showing up, participants are urged to sign in and sign out between 9 a.m. and noon if they decide to walk on Saturday or between 1 and 3 p.m. on Sunday if they pick that day. Not everyone, however, needs to start walking right at 9 a.m. Saturday morning or 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon, and they can feel free to walk as fast or as leisurely as they wish.
This weekend’s stroll in Minoa will start at Northbound Mind + Body Shop at 116 N. Main St., which will turn one of its rooms into a registration location with an information table. There will be on-street parking by the shop and the nearby municipal lot will be available.
Walkers are being encouraged by the Central New York organization to browse around Northbound with its tea bar, selection of scented candles, books of affirmations, and meditation cushions in addition to supporting other Minoa businesses like Trappers II Pizza & Pub across the street.
The casual walk will then go north down Main Street and through the residential neighborhoods of the village before eventually leading back to the starting place. As long as they clean up after them, people are allowed to bring their dogs on leashes, but not inside Northbound.
To cover the cost of supplies and other expenses involved with running its events 12 times a year in different locations—typically the second weekend of every month, as is the case this time—the nonprofit CNY Folksmarch Inc. asks adults who register to pay a fee of $4, while it’s $1 for kids ages six to 18 and free for children five and under or first-time folksmarchers. All who register will also receive a commemorative, collectible pin.
Annual passes are $40, and they include 12 pre-paid walks for the cost of 10 full-priced walks. The passes also come with a yearly passport card for recording completed walks and total kilometers or miles, which would be $10 to purchase otherwise.
Picking up an annual pass or a folded, stampable passport on its own makes the buyer a member of the nonprofit with the right to vote at its annual meetings. In both cases, they are also sent online copies of the monthly CNY Folksmarch newsletter.
For each month’s walk, a 5K route is defined on the maps given to each participant and marked by orange directional tags on the path, but if anyone doesn’t want to walk that full distance, they don’t have to. Instead, they can follow an adjusted one-mile walk outlined for them.
Also, if someone is in the mood to walk the length of a 10K, they can always walk the 5K route twice.
Patterned after and named in reference to German volksmarching, the Folksmarch program in Central New York began in 1981 under the leadership of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse, specifically thanks to “founding father” Walt Price and his wife, Peg, and in 2017 the monthly tradition evolved into its own independent organization that exists to this day. At 92, Walt Price still takes part in the walks when he can.
Adria Ripka, a folksmarcher since the early days in the 1980s who calls herself a “lifer,” said the year-round walking group provides the impetus for people to leave the house for exercise at least one weekend a month, perhaps to visit a place they’ve never been before.
“It’s something you put on your calendar and then you’re gonna do it,” said Ripka, the organization’s volunteer publicity coordinator. “We’re not offering a race, and we’re not a competition. It’s just to get out and walk, enjoy the scenery and fresh air, experience different localities, and maybe meet some new friends.”
The walking group goes all over Central New York and within 30 miles of what qualifies as part of the region in people’s minds.
For the winter months, the organization tries to seek out flatter, more accessible terrain in easy-to-navigate places that wouldn’t likely be very icy, Ripka said.
The turnout varies depending on the weather, she added, but she said she can count on a steady flow of 40 or more longtime folksmarchers to come out with their umbrellas if they have to, all ready to brave the conditions. The monthly folksmarch rarely if ever gets canceled, unless there’s a full-blown dangerous storm brewing, she said.
This past December, CNY Folksmarch had its walk in downtown Syracuse so people could see the festive decorations, and in January attendees walked the floors of Destiny USA from end to end with a choice to hike the Onondaga Creekwalk not far from the shopping mall.
The folksmarch will take place at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in March, Marcellus Park in April, Green Lakes State Park this May, the Sterling Nature Center in June, the village of Cato in July, Cedar Bay Park in DeWitt in August, Clark Reservation State Park in Jamesville in September, the village of Chittenango in October, the Meadowbrook neighborhood of Syracuse in November, and the city of Auburn in December to conclude the year.
For more information on the February walk and others held by the area nonprofit, contact [email protected].