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Story by Christina Levere
NORWICHBY FOOT
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OCTOBER 2012
M
ost New Englandersdon’t like to hear the words “snowball” and“October” in the same sentence.Months of slush, sleet and bit-ter cold loom ahead – why rushthings?
Michelle Bourgeois is happy to pairthe two words, though. As the director of sustainability for e Last Green Valley (TLGV), she’s not referring to the Octo-ber forecast but rather to the snowballing popularity of the organization’s Walkto-ber event, which inthe past 20 years hasblossomed from one“walking weekend”to an entire monthof free activitiesthroughout easternConnecticut and Mas-sachusetts.“We now have bike events, horseevents, Halloween-themed activities, paddles, hikes and walks,” Bourgeois said.“Every year Walktober grows.”In fact, since Walktober’s inception 22 years ago, attendance has steadily climbedto about 25,000 participants. Walktober encompasses 35 townsof e Last Green Valley, which is aNational Heritage Corridor located innortheastern Con-necticut and southcentral Massachusetts.e non-prot TLGV works to promoteand protect thearea, which includesNorwich and nearby Preston, Lisbon,Sprague, Voluntown and Franklin. etowns of Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury,Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Griswold,Hampton, Killingly, Lebanon, Manseld,
Several legendssurround the historicarea of Uncas LeapFalls, also known asIndian Leap, althoughcontradictory to thename, local historiansgenerally agree thatmany Indians fell totheir death at the site.
“We have a monthto show people what makesNorwich unique.”
C h r i s H e t z e r
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Guns of Norwich Historical Society leads a popular intown walk past several former gun manufacturing sites. This map is used a guide for the walk.
(Courtesy David Oat)
Foodie Tour of Norwich
, 3 p.m.,2 hours, 1 mile.Meet at HowardBrown Park, 100Chelsea Harbor Drive. Walk throughthe historic Chelsea District, withstops at various restaurants for foodsamples (drinks are not included).Participants need to register for thisone, as it is limited to 30 people.Sponsored by Norwich CommunityDevelopment Corporation. To register,call (860) 887-6964.
Uncas Leap andMohegan Heritage
, 1p.m., 2 hours, 1 milewalk. Meet on YanticStreet. Falls and parking area are located approximately .1miles from the intersection of SachemStreet. This walk includes visits toUncas Leap, Royal Mohegan BurialGround, Chelsea Parade and Slater Memorial Museum. Sponsored byNorwich Historical Society. For moreinformation call (860) 892-4557.
Firearm Factories of Norwich
, 1 p.m., 2 hours,3 miles. Meet in front of City Hall, 100 Broadway.Visit the former sites of firearm factories with guides from theGuns of Norwich Historical Society. For more information call (860) 423-9444or (860) 213-0819.
Plaineld, Pomfret, Putnam, Scotland,Sterling, ompson, Union, Windhamand Woodstock are also members of the Valley.e Walktober event began as aColumbus Day weekend program in1990. It grew in size and popularity each year until, in 2003, it became “Walking Weekends.” In 2011, it ocially became Walktober, when it oered more than160 events during the month of October— and not just on weekends.
Record numbers
Today, Walktober is helping to draw record numbers of visitors to the quaint, picturesque towns for which New Eng-land is so well known. e Rose City isone of them.“Norwich has been a key componentof Walktober since the beginning,” Bour-geois said.Norwich Historian Dale Plummer wasthere for that beginning. In fact, Plum-mer was part of a group that advocatedfor the creation of the National HeritageCorridor before the initial ColumbusDay weekend program was even concep-tualized.“We had to demonstrate the wealthand value of this historic area,” Plummersaid. “Now Walktober is able to highlight what Norwich has to oer in a positive way. And we’re not at the mercy of the weather, like we were in the beginning when we only had a weekend. We havea month to show people what makesNorwich unique.”is fall, visitors to Norwich canchoose from ve walks:
Walking in the Footsteps of the Founders to theOld Town of NorwichUncas Leap andMohegan HeritageFirearms Factoriesof NorwichRunning with ShadFoodie Tour of Norwich
According to Plummer, the FirearmsFactories of Norwich tour has alwaysdrawn a large crowd because of the city’simpressive gun-making history.From the time of the Civil War to theGreat Depression, Norwich was consid-
Running with Shad
, 10 a.m., 2hours, .5 miles. Meet behind theformer Ortronics Warehouse at 7Eighth Street. This walk sponsoredby Norwich Public Utilities takesyou to the hydroelectric station anddam – with fish lift – on the Shetucket River. For more information call (860)823-4507.
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