Wellness walk spreading positive message once again

By Wendy Noble
For The Times

This year marks our seventh year of organizing the Community Wellness Walk for Taber and Community Against Drugs (TCAD), which will occur Oct. 8 at 10:30 a.m. at the Taber Community Centre.

Our theme for every walk has been about making choices. Every day we are faced with having to make choices, whether they involve school or work, our friends, our family. Every decision we make affects those around us. We are trying to instill in our participants that they have the power to make the right choices, to choose not to follow when you know it is wrong.

Most of our participants are students from the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division and from Horizon School Division. In past years, the participation has fluctuated anywhere from 600 all the way up to about 730.

Our guest speaker this year is Blake Fly (blakefly.com). He will be speaking to the participants at the Wellness Walk and will also be doing a separate presentation for the high school students in the afternoon.

Blake is a huge fan of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is heavily lactose intolerant, and his favorite movie is “The Notebook.”

Blake has been a TedX conference host, a featured TedX speaker, and is the author of “The Campus Life Guide.” He has even shared the stage with CBC’s Rick Mercer. Blake spent nearly a decade living, learning and leading in university residences as a residence advisor, Don, and then in his first career as a residence manager for one of the country’s largest student buildings. During his university days, Blake lived with more than 6,000 roommates, and in that time he lead groups of students on service learning trips throughout the USA and the Dominican Republic. Blake is known for his creative approach to community building, both back in school and in present day. He transfers his lessons from campus life to his daily life. He is the co-creator of several social initiatives, one being called “Train Reaction,” where Blake and his band play live music inside city subway cars. They don’t play for money, but rather to brighten up the mood for people riding the train. Blake’s work has been featured on City TV, CBC and even the National News.

Blake’s family means the work to him and his partner is the girl he plans to cook Kraft Dinner for during the next 75 years.

We encourage the community to come out and support the Wellness Walk and show that you are committing to a drug free life. It is only through this support that we can continue to spread our message. We are always looking for new members. If you are interested in becoming a member or helping with projects you can contact Wendy Noble 223-0700 or taberagainstdrugs@gmail.com.