Plymouth Residents Put A Twist On Annual Walk

Ann and Joel Scalzo of Plymouth have started a new tradition.

With about 70 others, the Scalzo's decided to have their own Walk for the Cure benefitting the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Their walk was May 13, Mother's Day, in their Plymouth neighborhood. For years they've been going to the Mall of America for the annual Twin Cities Race for the Cure, but not this time.

"Over the years we have enjoyed the annual Mother's Day event at the Mall of America," Joel Scalzo said. "This past spring we were visiting about the details of the annual event this year. The conversation came up again about the challenges of getting all participants to get up early, drive to the Mall and battle for a reasonable parking spot."

The group would then meet in the Mall and wait for the walk to start, he said.

"Once we got through the first 15 minutes of the walk when people would spread out, we would really enjoy the event--until we had to battle traffic leaving the mall," Scalzo said. "We wondered what would happen if we did something locally. We discussed having our group get together here in Plymouth and walk around Schmidt Lake in Plymouth. We all loved the idea."

This way the group can still make a contribution to the Susan G. Komen Foundation as well as get more family and friends involved by removing the challenges of getting to the Mall, he said.

The walk is a personal endeavor for the Scalzo's since Ann's sister is a cancer survivor.  

The group of 70 walkers met at the Scalzo's house near Schmidt Lake and walked around that neighborhood in the morning May 13. The Scalzo's also had brunch at their house following the walk.

Scalzo said the group raised a nice amount for the Komen Foundation and agreed they'd do their own walk next year.