Blue Springs, Mo. – Mayor Carson Ross invites the community to celebrate Blue Springs becoming a Let’s Move! city by joining him for a 30-minute walk on Friday, March 25 beginning at Blue Springs City Hall, 903 W. Main Street. Mayor Ross will welcome walkers and warm-up activities beginning at noon, with the walk through downtown Blue Springs beginning at 12:15 p.m. Main Street will be closed from 9th Street to 10th Street from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. to accommodate the pre-walk activities.
Kansas City Chiefs mascot, KC Wolf, will be at the March to cheer on the walkers and to emphasize the partnership between the Let's Move! campaign and NFL Play 60.
Mayor Ross will lead the walk to demonstrate how easy it is to put on your tennis shoes and get moving over your lunch hour. Mayor Ross stated “experts say that 30 minutes of daily movement helps promote increased wellness and a heart-healthy lifestyle.” Community partners will have booths on-site with information on services and upcoming wellness events throughout Blue Springs.
“I’m so proud that Blue Springs has become a Let’s Move! city. The City is partnering with StandUp Blue Springs to facilitate the Let’s Move! initiative to develop a long-term, sustainable, and holistic approach to fight childhood obesity in our community,” said Mayor Ross. “The ‘March with the Mayor’ event will kick-off Let’s Move! Blue Springs Week and is designed to get people up and moving, striding towards increased community fitness.”
The Blue Springs City Council unanimously passed a resolution of commitment on March 7 supporting the Let’s Move! initiative, and has recently proclaimed Friday, March 25, 2011 the beginning of “Let’s Move! Blue Springs Week. Blue Springs was recently featured in the National Let’s Move Blog located at www.letsmove.gov.
The planning and implementation of Let’s Move! Blue Springs will be coordinated by citizen-driven organization, StandUp Blue Springs, who has facilitated visioning and community involvement in the past. In addition, community partners, such as the Blue Springs School District, St. Mary’s Hospital, Blue Springs Family YMCA, Central Jackson County Fire Protection District and many others have signed letters of commitment to the initiative.
StandUp will facilitate two citizen-driven community summits on June 18 and July 9, designed to identify ideas, develop action plans and begin implementing specific steps to achieve the Let’s Move! objectives. StandUp will also ensure ongoing communication with key stakeholder groups which are already committed to this important initiative.
A calendar of events has been developed for the Let’s Move! initiative on the City’s website. Visit www.bluespringsgov.com/letsmove for more information. To participate in the community summits contact 478-4500 to register.
For information about the “March with the Mayor” contact Sheryl Morgan at (816) 655-0495.
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