Paulette Stark, of Park Forest, loves to take walks for great causes and good reasons.
She has walked in marathons and half marathons for various causes but lately has reduced it down to 5K events.
So Stark was up early Tuesday morning getting ready to walk with Sheila Moaton, of Frankfort, in a leg of the 6,800-mile Discovery Trail 250 Relay, an event that started in California in July and is scheduled to finish on Thanksgiving in Delaware.
The Frankfort portion started on Breidert Green and headed to Matteson along the Old Plank Road trail with more stops scheduled in the Southland Wednesday.
The relay was created by the American Discovery Trail organization to honor the 250th birthday of the United States.
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This isn’t a fundraiser. However, it has been a chance for people and communities to come together and to have citizens carry three batons, each filled with copies of the Declaration of Independence.
That’s what Stark liked about it.
“It’s really great because we need unity,” Stark said. “We need to be together. And isn’t the weather something? We have one of the best days of the year.”
With sunny temperatures in the mid 70s during the Frankfort stop, a dozen people headed for Holden Park in Matteson. The relay was slated to continue to North Creek Meadow in Chicago Heights.
The relay is scheduled to go Wednesday from Chicago Heights to Pennsy Greenway and Wentworth Avenue in Lansing, when that village is set to receive the first American Discovery Trail Town designation in Illinois.
One walker on the Frankfort-to-Matteson leg was happy she could hold one of the same batons that friends held in California back in July.
Janet Jennings, of Lake Barrington, was with a group called Hika Nation in 1980 which made a similar hiking trip across the United States. Five members of that group started an early portion of the trip July 4 in San Francisco for the 250 relay.
“Others in the group have done little pieces of it,” Jennings said. “I’m doing this part. About 15 of us will reconnect in Delaware on Thanksgiving for the celebration.”
Back in 1980, when she was in her early 20s, she said she made the entire hike from coast to coast.
Now at age 65, she is fine with 3- and 4-mile walks.
“I’m not as good as I used to be,” she said with a smile.
It’s been a good October for Frankfort. The village received the Southland Shines Community Beautification Award last Thursday at the Visit Chicago Southland Awards ceremony at the Wind Creek Chicago Southland casino and resort in East Hazel Crest.
Six days later, the village hosted a portion of the 250 relay.
“Today is about more than just passing a baton from one community to the next,” Frankfort Mayor Keith Ogle said. “It’s an opportunity to reflect on our nation’s history and recognize the communities and the people who have shaped them.
“It’s also to celebrate the values and connections that bring us all together.”
Ogle said this country’s story is made up of countless communities with people who share a belief in the promise of America, and the Southland is filled with those communities.
Frankfort had a small number of people attend the free event, but the village provided food, music, T-shirts and an appearance from men playing Uncle Sam on stilts and Ben Franklin.
One resident just happened to be taking his morning walk along the trail and saw the commotion on the green.
“I wanted to stay around and find out more about it,” said Larry Erickson, who said he lived down the block from the event. “I got a doughnut, a T-shirt, a little pennant thing … and I’m listening to the music.”
Dan Petrella, of Frankfort, said he heard about the relay and stopped by.
“It was that and the T-shirts that drew me to it,” he joked.
Moaton was there for other reasons.
“I wanted to help celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation and carry a baton,” she said.
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Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.