By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó The children of North Rowan Elementary took to the streets Wednesday afternoon like a fleet of Energizer bunnies.
Lots of excited chit-chat, lots of little feet pounding the pavement.
“Oh, no, there’s one with his shoes untied,” Carol Corriher said as she watched the wave of 500 students sweep past.
Not to worry. There were apparently no injuries as a result of little ones tripping over shoelaces.
Students from North Rowan Elementary walked a stretch near the school as part of Walk to School Day. The celebration is an international one, intended to promote health and reduce pollution.
But leaders in Spencer are hoping the event will also help the town secure federal grant money to pay for sidewalks.
Corriher, a longtime member of Spencer’s Community Appearance Commission, headed the Walk to School event. She said she walks for exercise most mornings and is disappointed there aren’t more sidewalks in town.
Corriher and other town leaders discovered that federal funds might help pay for sidewalks, but they had to show there was a need for them and support from the community.
Thus the organization of Wednesday’s endeavor on the streets around North Rowan Elementary.
In addition to federal grant money, town leaders are also working to get funds from the N.C. Department of Transportation and the Safe Roads to Schools program to pay for sidewalks.
Rick Hampton, principal at North Rowan Elementary, said sidewalks are badly needed. He said that while elementary students don’t walk to school as much as older children, students from North Rowan Middle regularly traverse Charles Street, which stretches in front of both schools.
“They walk in the street all the time,” Hampton said, noting that those teenagers have nowhere else to walk when heading to school.
Hampton strolled alongside his students Wednesday. Also partaking in the hike were Town Manager Larry Smith, Mayor Jody Everhart and Alderman Ken Womble.
When someone asked the distance of the hike ó which included a loop around Hillcrest Drive, Pinecroft Lane and Oakwood and Charles streets ó Womble quickly replied “10 miles.”
That was just a slight exaggeration. The route probably measured closer to a half-mile.
Members of the Spencer Fire Department drove one of their spiffy red tankers to the school to help with the event. Officers from the Spencer Police Department blocked the street to make sure the route was safe.
John Brady, a P.E. teacher at North Rowan Elementary, secured bottled water donated by Food Lion and distributed it to students once they’d finished the hike.
Kelly Everhart, a teacher at North Rowan High, brought students enrolled in the school’s lifetime sports class to participate.
Mother Nature smiled on the students as they strolled. While Wednesday dawned cloudy and cool, the afternoon rain held off until just after students completed their hike.