Seriously... a Walk in the Park

The Alexander Children's Theatre School walks as part of the 2007 Walk for Music!
Click here to jump to the few photos that came out well!

Aye, it was a cold, dark and rainy day.  The clouds were looming above as the skies threatened to fall upon us... so we did the only thing we could do.  WE PICNICKED!

On Sunday, April 29, 2007, ACTS join hundreds of other arts enthusiasts for a walk through the Back Bay Fens - the 2007 Walk for Music. The event's goal is to celebrate and fund community-based arts programs.  And despite the lousy (pretty darn chilly!) weather conditions, we carried on!

Amy Olson, Alissa Shulman and Meghan Berger joined forces with Team Captain JulieAnn Govang (with son Stephen in stroller), Jeannie MacFarland, Stephanie Mavrides and her friend Ginger Quinn, for the short, 2-mile loop through the gardens.   And though everyone couldn't walk that day, there were other fundraising "In Spirit Walkers," including Angela and Hilary Powell and Paul Kmiec, too. ALL (100%) proceeds raised by our walkers went to ACTS!  Isn't that awesome?!!

The day began with JulieAnn meeting up with Alissa and Meghan in Waltham (so we could all take one car in)... except JulieAnn has ZERO sense of direction.   Fear not, though - JulieAnn's Mom Van has a GPS system...which wouldn't talk to us the entire trip.  So patiently, Alissa and Megan waited patiently in the back, making funny faces at baby Stephen and watching "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Umi" and 'Dragon Tales" DVDs while Jeannie MacFarland found our way into the city.

Once we arrived, Amy was waiting for us on the bench outside the park, and soon followed Stephanie and Ginger with lunch.   (Thank you very much for lunch, ACTS!)  Yummy sandwiches and fruit.  Really hit the spot. (BTW, apologies, Amy!   Have you always been a vegetarian???)  Any-hoo, though event sponsor Dunkin' Donuts was great about handing out free fruit smoothies and Munchkins, the somewhat COLD conditions kind of took away from the desire, so while Stephanie and Ginger made a trek for some nice, hot java, we all started some small crowd theatre games using Mirror techniques, trust falls, improv alphabet storytelling, etc.  And then there was the time spent watching "that kid in the red shirt who was cute and smart."   Truthfully, we just had to keep moving... did we mention the cold?

Soon after games, we were called to our "places" to begin the walk and headed off around the Fens.  Alissa, Meghan and Amy took the lead immediately, followed by Ginger and Stephen and Jeannie, Stephanie and JulieAnn trailing casually behind.  Heaven love Ginger for taking Stephen in stroller and trekking off, giving JulieAnn a much unexpected (& honestly needed) baby break!  Stephen LOVED her and they had a grand time.

And after the short trip (about 40 minutes for those who lagged), we headed home.  Thankfully, JulieAnn's GPS device decided to tell us how to get back to Waltham, and yeah - the sun came out while we were driving home.  What started as a dreary day with lots of fears of disaster really turned out to be a great day thanks to the enthusiasm and spirit of our participants (not to mention raising a nice chunk of change for ACTS with little effort!)  Fabulous.

For more information about the Walk for Music, visit them online at www.walkformusic.org,

Jean MacFarland, Alissa Shulman and Amy Olson  wait patiently for the event to begin.	Stephanie Mavrides, Jean  & Ginger (Quinn)
Meghan and Alissa	And...we're walkin'