“Oprah’s Big Give” is coming to Allen County. The television show selected ABC affiliate Indiana’s NewsCenter and the local non-profit Aboite New Trails for a donation of $10,000. The mission from “Oprah’s Big Give” to Aboite New Trails and Indiana’s NewsCenter was to find a way to grow the money into something larger.
As a result, The City of Fort Wayne, the New Haven and Adams Township Park and Recreation Department, Aboite New Trails, the Greenway Consortium and Northwest Allen Trails are coming together to give big and give back as part of Oprah’s Big Give Fort Wayne Trails initiative. Each organization will host a walk, bike ride or run fund-raising event on Saturday, April 12. All will join together for a free event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Headwaters Park in Downtown Fort Wayne. Organizers expect this to be the most number of people on trails in Fort Wayne and New Haven ever in a single day.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Aboite New Trails:
Registration and pre-walk/bike activities including a children’s bike helmet give-away will be 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Indian Trails Park for Bike/Walk About Aboite. At 11 a.m. the walk and bike rides will start. Jason Minnick of Catalyst Fitness will lead a guided 4.5-mile walk. Bicyclists will ride for 8 miles separate from the walking path with a police escort on the sections of the route that are on roadway.
Greenway Consortium:
A Greenway Fun Run and Walk event will be at 12:30 p.m. starting from Headwaters Park. The walk will be a 2-mile loop that will finish at Headwaters. The run will be 3 miles and also end at Headwaters in time for the 2 p.m. party.
New Haven/Adams Township Park and Recreation:
Registration will start at 10:30 a.m. at Moser Park and include appearances that morning from the New Haven Alumni Band and the Woodlan High School cheerleaders. Cyclists and walkers can ride or walk the 8 miles to Headwaters Park, demonstrating the connected trails between New Haven and Fort Wayne. The bike ride will start at noon; walkers can leave at any time. There will be a second starting point, the North River Road boat launch, which is closer to Fort Wayne for those who want to walk or ride a shorter distance.
Northwest Allen Trails:
Participants in the Spring Walk-a-Mile at the Salomon Farm Park Trail can start anytime between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Parkview YMCA. The trail’s loop is approximately 2 miles.
Source: City of Fort Wayne (includes links to registration forms).
North Fort Wayne River Development 