Grand Ledge's mayor, Kalmin Smith, out-walked three other local mayors to earn a $3,500 community grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
The insurance provider challenged area mayors to a 10-week walking challenge in January. Each mayor had to keep track of his or her own physical activity, which was then broken down into the equivalent number of steps. Smith, who racked up 1,027,752 steps, was the winning mayor and received the $3,500 grant.
“I have a Siberian husky named Molly who requires a lot of exercise, and she never gets it. So I thought that could be part of the challenge,” Smith says. “I basically went out in the snow and walked that dog all over Grand Ledge.”
Smith is giving his money to the Grand Ledge Opera House Authority for the construction of the downtown river walk. The Grand Ledge Opera House Authority has pledged $80,000 for the $350,000 project.
Source: Kalmin Smith, City of Grand Ledge
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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