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Most mornings you can find Faye Albert and Joan Butler at the Bangor Mall, even before the stores open, ahead of most employees, and often just barely behind sunrise. But they are there not to get a jump on shopping; rather, they are in it for good health and good company, even if it is just a handful of people.
To keep fit and keep up on what is going on in their lives, they walk the mall. “It’s fellowship as well as exercise,” Butler says of the six-day-a-week trek she and Albert make.
Albert and Butler have both been making early morning walks inside the mall since they retired from the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, 15 and 12 years ago, respectively. The two are no nonsense when it comes to walking. The pair keeps a good pace as they wind their way along the inside wall of the mall, passing closed stores that in less than two hours will come back to life. A mall maintenance man changing light bulbs perched high on a lift greets each walker passing by below with a welcoming “good morning” as seasonal songs like “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” are heard from above.
It’s a week after Black Friday and the mall has returned to a sense of normalcy for the season. So, too, have the walkers who found themselves competing for walking space with the crush of bargain hunters that hit the mall the day after Thanksgiving.
“We had to dodge past people. It was busy,” says Terry Campbell, who along with wife, Ruth, have been walking at the mall regularly for the last few years. For the couple, both in their 70s, the mall offers a good, warm place to walk in the winter. If they cover all around the inside of the mall including the alcoves and side entrances, the Campbells can clock three-quarters of a mile with one circuit.
For many, though, it’s not the distance, but the time spent walking that counts; about 30 minutes to an hour of walking does the trick. As many as 20 people have been known to tread the mall before the stores open, say the mall walkers.
That’s good news to Rebecca Drewette-Card, physical activity coordinator for the Maine Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, which sponsors statewide efforts to get Mainers to eat better and exercise.
“The problem is that many of us aren’t doing well when it comes to eating right and staying fit,” she says. Drewette-Card points out that nearly half of the adults in Maine are classified as living a sedentary lifestyle. The next generation isn’t doing so hot either: The percentage of overweight teenagers has nearly tripled in the last 20 years. Living in Maine can make exercising outside difficult, with only the hardiest venturing out in the sometimes extreme conditions.
“Indoor walking is a great option for Maine people,” Drewette-Card says, whose organization, Healthy Maine Walks, is part of a larger coalition of trails, healthcare organizations, and other agencies aimed at helping Mainers get into physical activity. Its website, www.healthymainewalks.org, houses an online database of places where Mainers can walk indoors.
“Malls are not the only great places for indoor walking,” reports Drewette-Card. “Schools and school gyms, as well as other large facilities such as hospitals or municipal buildings, can also be open to the public for walking.”
Twenty years ago while on an early morning visit to Bangor, Martha Majunka, of Rockland, took a quick visit to the Bangor Mall, looking for something to do. She found people there walking and she joined them. She left with the feeling that offering a place for people to walk indoors was a great idea for her area, although it wouldn’t be until the late 1990s when the new middle school was built that the idea would come to fruition for the Rockland schoolteacher.
Since the school was financed without state aid, Majunka says, opening up the school during the school year for walkers offered a way to give back to the public. Anywhere from a trickle to a dozen walkers use the hallways and other school space to get their exercise, an hour before classes start, many through a walking program sponsored by SAD 5’s adult education program. There is plenty of flat space to walk on, not to mention three sets of stairs to add some challenge for the walkers.
Half of those who come are retirees; the others are still in the workforce, getting a little exercise at the start of their day, she says.
“It’s a good way to get energized for the day,” Majunka says. “As long as it is chilly and dark in the morning, why not let someone walk if they want to?”
The Healthy Maine Walks website lists many other indoor walking spots across the state, such as the Gentle Memorial Building in Houlton and the Brewer Auditorium. These places, besides offering a way to strengthen muscles, can also serve to strengthen ties among people in the community.
Carmen Cole began walking at the Bangor Mall 10 years ago as part of her recovery from quadruple bypass heart surgery. Claire Pelletier started walking at the mall a year later, to help keep her healthy. They didn’t know each other before, and for a while they only knew each other in passing, waving hello as they walked.
“We said `hi’ the first few years, but gradually we became closer,” says Pelletier. Now they walk side-by-side, exchanging information about their families, daily goings-on, husbands, and recipes. Girl talk.
“It makes the time go faster when you have people to talk to,” says Cole, who was used to being on her feet having been a waitress at the former Pilot’s Grill in Bangor.
In better weather, Pelletier sometimes walks on the outside of the mall, where she covers a longer distance. But she admits she misses the socializing. Inside, she often stays longer than most walkers and will walk and talk with several different people in the course of her exercise.
“What brings us here is health, to stay healthy,” Terry Campbell says. But for many, what keeps bringing them back is the healthy friendships they make.
To keep fit and keep up on what is going on in their lives, they walk the mall. “It’s fellowship as well as exercise,” Butler says of the six-day-a-week trek she and Albert make.
Albert and Butler have both been making early morning walks inside the mall since they retired from the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, 15 and 12 years ago, respectively. The two are no nonsense when it comes to walking. The pair keeps a good pace as they wind their way along the inside wall of the mall, passing closed stores that in less than two hours will come back to life. A mall maintenance man changing light bulbs perched high on a lift greets each walker passing by below with a welcoming “good morning” as seasonal songs like “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” are heard from above.
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It’s a week after Black Friday and the mall has returned to a sense of normalcy for the season. So, too, have the walkers who found themselves competing for walking space with the crush of bargain hunters that hit the mall the day after Thanksgiving.
“We had to dodge past people. It was busy,” says Terry Campbell, who along with wife, Ruth, have been walking at the mall regularly for the last few years. For the couple, both in their 70s, the mall offers a good, warm place to walk in the winter. If they cover all around the inside of the mall including the alcoves and side entrances, the Campbells can clock three-quarters of a mile with one circuit.
For many, though, it’s not the distance, but the time spent walking that counts; about 30 minutes to an hour of walking does the trick. As many as 20 people have been known to tread the mall before the stores open, say the mall walkers.
That’s good news to Rebecca Drewette-Card, physical activity coordinator for the Maine Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, which sponsors statewide efforts to get Mainers to eat better and exercise.
“The problem is that many of us aren’t doing well when it comes to eating right and staying fit,” she says. Drewette-Card points out that nearly half of the adults in Maine are classified as living a sedentary lifestyle. The next generation isn’t doing so hot either: The percentage of overweight teenagers has nearly tripled in the last 20 years. Living in Maine can make exercising outside difficult, with only the hardiest venturing out in the sometimes extreme conditions.
“Indoor walking is a great option for Maine people,” Drewette-Card says, whose organization, Healthy Maine Walks, is part of a larger coalition of trails, healthcare organizations, and other agencies aimed at helping Mainers get into physical activity. Its website, www.healthymainewalks.org, houses an online database of places where Mainers can walk indoors.
“Malls are not the only great places for indoor walking,” reports Drewette-Card. “Schools and school gyms, as well as other large facilities such as hospitals or municipal buildings, can also be open to the public for walking.”
Twenty years ago while on an early morning visit to Bangor, Martha Majunka, of Rockland, took a quick visit to the Bangor Mall, looking for something to do. She found people there walking and she joined them. She left with the feeling that offering a place for people to walk indoors was a great idea for her area, although it wouldn’t be until the late 1990s when the new middle school was built that the idea would come to fruition for the Rockland schoolteacher.
Since the school was financed without state aid, Majunka says, opening up the school during the school year for walkers offered a way to give back to the public. Anywhere from a trickle to a dozen walkers use the hallways and other school space to get their exercise, an hour before classes start, many through a walking program sponsored by SAD 5’s adult education program. There is plenty of flat space to walk on, not to mention three sets of stairs to add some challenge for the walkers.
Half of those who come are retirees; the others are still in the workforce, getting a little exercise at the start of their day, she says.
“It’s a good way to get energized for the day,” Majunka says. “As long as it is chilly and dark in the morning, why not let someone walk if they want to?”
The Healthy Maine Walks website lists many other indoor walking spots across the state, such as the Gentle Memorial Building in Houlton and the Brewer Auditorium. These places, besides offering a way to strengthen muscles, can also serve to strengthen ties among people in the community.
Carmen Cole began walking at the Bangor Mall 10 years ago as part of her recovery from quadruple bypass heart surgery. Claire Pelletier started walking at the mall a year later, to help keep her healthy. They didn’t know each other before, and for a while they only knew each other in passing, waving hello as they walked.
“We said `hi’ the first few years, but gradually we became closer,” says Pelletier. Now they walk side-by-side, exchanging information about their families, daily goings-on, husbands, and recipes. Girl talk.
“It makes the time go faster when you have people to talk to,” says Cole, who was used to being on her feet having been a waitress at the former Pilot’s Grill in Bangor.
In better weather, Pelletier sometimes walks on the outside of the mall, where she covers a longer distance. But she admits she misses the socializing. Inside, she often stays longer than most walkers and will walk and talk with several different people in the course of her exercise.
“What brings us here is health, to stay healthy,” Terry Campbell says. But for many, what keeps bringing them back is the healthy friendships they make.
