Sumter County Active Lifestyles
www.sumtercountyactivelifestyles.org SCAL Mini-grant Interest is Strong!
SCAL ran an advertisement in The Item on three occasions, announcing the community mini-grant funding available for fiscal year 2006-07, and the response was the greatest ever. Fifteen representatives from 10 different community-based organizations, churches and schools attended the pre-application workshop on February 8th. Eight letters of intent to apply for the funding were received. Community groups/coalitions/organizations competing for grant funding are required to show a collaborative effort with other organizations in their community. They must demonstrate their commitment to improve or increase opportunities for physical activity among community residents. Applicants who attended the February 8th workshop are required to submit their proposal by March 15th. An announcement of the minigrant recipient(s) will be made by April 16th. This is the third year that SCAL and the University of South Carolina Prevention Research Center have offered mini-grant funding for underserved communities
Spring 2007 Edition
Wedgefield Community Park
that have limited physical activity resources. The Wedgefield Community Coalition was the recipient of the first mini-grant offered in 2004-05. You can see the results of their success if you drive out to Wedgefield and visit the Wedgefield Community Park, complete with its walking track, playground and picnic
areas. And, because it is accessible and open to everyone, you might take a break and go for a stroll or brisk walk around the track. Plans are in progress for the 2005-06 mini-grant project.
Inside This Issue:
1 SCAL Interest in Mini-grant Is Strong 1 Grant Information 2 Greetings from the Director 3 Spotlight on Bev Franz 3 New Walking Trail at USC Sumter 4 Mission, Officers, Staff & Events Recipe Insert
Grant Information
SCAL staff receive information about grant opportunities related to health issues. We are forwarding targeted grant information to SCAL members. For example, opportunities for potential grant funding from the Allen Foundation Inc., The Gerber Foundation, Teammates for Kids and Bristol-Myers Squib Foundation have recently been disseminated. Several of these organizations are interested in nutrition programs and/or health, education, and inner city services. If you are not receiving this information and would like to be on our emailing list, please let us know.
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He’s committed to SCAL and to helping others “Our members came through and exceeded the challenge …”
Greetings from the Director
It is always a pleasure for me to present SCAL’s quarterly newsletter, because it is a great way to feature things SCAL has to offer the community and what our members are involved in to promote health and quality of life in Sumter County. If you are reading this newsletter, then I know that you are interested in what SCAL is up to. (Thanks for your interest!)
Wednesday Walkers
Wednesday Walkers
In the last issue of the newsletter, I mentioned the start of the Wednesday Walkers downtown community walking program. Wednesday Walkers kicked off on October 11, 2006 at Tuomey Healthcare System and concluded with a finale at the courthouse on November 15th. An average of 188 employees from seven downtown worksites/agencies/businesses formed teams and walked each Wednesday throughout the six weeks. They were treated with goodies along the walking routes and a chance for winning door prizes at the finale. Because the response to Wednesday Walkers was overwhelmingly positive, SCAL is offering the program this year as a 10-week program to worksites throughout Sumter County, not just in the downtown area. The 2007 Wednesday Walkers program will take place March 14–May 19. I’ll have the results to report in the next newsletter. Regarding another walking program: The Heart and Soles mall walking program that is cosponsored by SCAL and the Sumter Mall recently recognized the 2006 program’s winners with mall merchant gift certificates and discounts and a SCAL duffle bag. The award winners, a husband and wife duo, walked 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 35 weeks to earn their prizes. Over 500 people participate in Heart and Soles. SCAL is making progress toward becoming a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our members came through and exceeded the challenge of raising the money to pay for the 501(c)(3) application fee. Through several fundraisers, we made $825.00—more than enough money to cover the application fee. I have begun completing the IRS application (a daunting task) and hope to submit it within the next few months. Finally, two projects currently under development are: a marked walking trail at a Housing Authority apartment complex and the 2007 community mini-grant. Spring is here in Sumter. Make a point to get outdoors and enjoy the sights. As always, I encourage you to Get Active! Get Healthy! Get Involved!
Wednesday Walkers
Heart and Soles
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Linda M. Pekuri, Executive Director
“My interest in a healthy diet and exercise brought me to SCAL…”
Bev Franz, SCAL President
SCAL’s President, Bev Franz, enjoys physical activity- winter, spring, summer and fall, and she is eager for everyone in Sumter County to be able to realize the pleasures and benefits of being active. During cool weather, Bev and a few of her like-minded friends, who call themselves the Over 50 Club, play tennis for fun and exercise and can be seen after work and sometimes on the weekends at Palmetto Tennis Courts. Bev emphasizes that the tennis game is strictly for pleasure and physical activity, since they do not keep score. Since there are also plenty of hot days in Sumter, Bev has an exercise plan for even the most scorching of days. She and her Over 50 Club play their own version of volleyball in a backyard pool. The majority of the exercise derived from this activity comes from their energized laughter, as their forward lunges, aimed at spiking the ball over the net, often do not meet their mark. Bev’s activities may not qualify her for competitive athletic pursuits, but she surely enjoys a physically active lifestyle- and that is why she is president of SCAL. “My interest in a healthy diet and exercise brought me to SCAL. It was an opportunity to meet others who were also interested in staying healthy.” Besides being a member of SCAL, Bev has been involved with other health-related groups. She belongs to the Tobacco-Free Wateree Coalition, of which she was president for eight years. She was vicepresident of the former Citizens for a Healthy Sumter. It was from this group that SCAL was formed in 1999. Bev became SCAL’s first president in 2003 and then again in 2006. Experiences in Bev’s youth and young adult life may have been the inspiration for her interest in healthy living. Bev’s formative years were spent in the rural community of Rushville, Indiana. Her mother modeled a healthy lifestyle by being physically active and providing lots of fruit and vegetables in the family’s diet. As a school girl, she belonged to the Girl’s Athletic Association, offering her opportunities to participate in gymnastics, basketball and volleyball. In college at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, Bev took numerous physical education and health-related courses while working on her Bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a minor in French. After college, Bev married her husband, Bobby, and they lived in many places that fostered enjoyment of physical activity. In England’s region
Bev at Wednesday Walkers
Bev at USC Sumter Trail Ribbon Cutting
happy and active. Later, when Bev and her family lived in the small farming community of Schmittweiler, Germany, there was a village park with a tree house, ski lift, swings and seesaws that was adjacent to a lake encircled by a walking trail. Bev jogged around the lake two or three times a week. Bev enjoys good health and attributes this to an active lifestyle. She loves being involved with SCAL because it gives her the experience of being around wonderful people who have similar ideologies. SCAL gives her the chance to share positive aspects of her life with the community by working with all of the SCAL members to promote a community environment that supports physically active lifestyles for all citizens.
of the Seven Magnificent Castles, outings to the castles were culminated by roaming the grounds and wandering through the scenic English gardens. Bev and her family also lived in Germany. While there, she frequently spent weekends “Volksmarching”, an activity that Bev describes as a 10K walk through villages and woods in Germany on a set trail. In this event, walkers set their own walking pace and were offered water, beer and mints at several stops along the trail. At the end of the 10K walk, there was music, beverages, sweets, bratwurst and fellowship. People completing the walk received a stein as their reward. “Volksmarching” kept Bev, Bobby and their children, Ryan and Kelly,
SCAL and USC Sumter have partnered to sponsor a one-mile marked walking trail on the USC Sumter campus. The trail posts have the SCAL logo on one side, the USC Sumter logo on the opposite side and the distance on the two remaining sides. Founders Grove, located on campus, is where the trail begins and ends, but the trail can be accessed from any area of the campus. Park in the back parking lot of the campus (Theatre Drive entrance) for the most convenient access. Happy trails to you!
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
S C A L
Mission: To promote health and quality of life in Sumter County by advocating for a community environment that supports physically active lifestyles for all citizens. BIKE-WALK COMMITTEE
PLACE: RECREATION AND PARKS TIME: Third Wednesday of Every Month at Noon ACCESSIBILITY AND OUTREACH COMMITTEE PLACE: RECREATION AND PARKS TIME: First Thursday of Odd Months at Noon
President Secretary Treasurer Bev Franz Gary Mixon Catherine Blumberg Betsy Conner Judy Tyl Juanita Williams Executive Director Past President Linda Pekuri Vacant
SCAL GENERAL QUARTERLY MEETING PLACE: RECREATION AND PARKS TIME: Thursday, May 17th at Noon
Contact Us Linda Pekuri, (803) 774-3861, lpekuri@sumtercountysc.org Catherine Blumberg, (803) 774-3860 cblumberg@sumtercountysc.org FAX (803) 436-2400
Vice President
Members-at-Large
Sumter County Active Lifestyles 155 Haynsworth Street Sumter, South Carolina 29150
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