B.C. seniors walking their way to Corner Brook

CORNER BROOK - An elderly group in Surrey, B.C. has been showing their Olympic spirit by walking to Corner Brook.

Jean Roe, 85, a former resident of the city, spearheaded a cross-Canada trek with her fellow members of the Crescent Walkers that began in May 2006.

Meeting every Wednesday morning at various locations in and around Surrey, the members of the Crescent United Church tabulate their combined distance walked in an attempt to cover the distance from their hometown to Corner Brook by the 2010 Winter Olympics.

About 7,000 kilometres sounds like a daunting task for anybody, but the group of about 20 - whose average age is 78 - is already passing through Quebec.

"I just love Corner Brook, it is my home, so with the Olympics coming up I decided that I was going to get them to walk across Canada," Roe told The Western Star.

"It's not only about the walking, I am actually going to bring some of them here in 2009.
They have never been to Newfoundland before and I tell them they haven't lived until they have. A number of them have said they will come."

Roe is also looking for a similar attitude from the people in Corner Brook. She is inviting people here to go to B.C. during the Games. In fact, she said the people within her walking group have said they'd open their homes for accommodations to Newfoundlanders interested.

On Tuesday, she is meeting with Corner Brook Mayor Charles Pender to tell him about the group and bring the two Canadian places a little closer together. She will be taking a photo of them, wearing the red and white toques in honour of the Games, with her.

Roe is no stranger to volunteering and spearheading community efforts.

In fact, she was presented the Order of Canada in 1981 for her volunteer work.

She was a Scott before she married the late Mr. James Roe, a former editor of The Star, and she herself worked as woman's editor for The Star in 1953. Her brother Bob Scott still resides in Corner Brook.

Roe has also worked with the USO (United Service Organizations) here and ran the Whitehouse building for three years afterwards.