Walking and Talking

The weather was supposed to be nice for the 14th Annual Kids Helping Kids Fun Walk. For the past week, the forecast called for a sunny day with a high temperature in the low 80s. Instead, we got a brief thunderstorm as the walkers circled the campus of Knoxville Catholic High School and All Saints Catholic Church.

For the third year, I was honorary chair of the Fun Walk. Since I am also president of the FBI Knoxville Citizens Academy Alumni Association, I arranged for the group to have a table at the event. Two volunteers handed out cards with a QR code for the FBI Child ID App for iPhones.

Like last year, we gave away a green bicycle from Regions Bank. My wife and I aren’t sure what exactly I said that made Fr. Ragan Schriver put his hand to his mouth. It might have been my joke about the green helmet protecting the regions of the brain.

The Kids Helping Kids Fun Walk has evolved from just a walk to a mini-festival with food, games and prizes. I collected extra donations for Columbus Home by making shout-outs over the P.A. When I saw Heather Tang and her family, I offered to make the shout-outs in the same French accent I had used the day before when Heather’s daughters were dancing as Wild Ducks in a scene from “The Ugly Duckling.”

When we started, I intended to go on the entire walk with Fr. Ragan, who was pushing his niece’s wheelchair. After one lap around the track, concerns about the weather kept me and the microphone near the public address system. It rained a little bit during the Walk. Most of the participants had returned to the stadium when we first heard thunder and I had to send everyone to their cars. As it turned out, the severe storm missed the campus but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The photos shot by Kim McCready help illustrate the large turnout. Kim’s camera also captured WVLT sports director Rick Russo supporting the cause by walking.