Walk & Roll offers wheel big family fun

MONTICELLO — Amid brilliantly sunny skies and warm temperatures, the 28th annual Walk & Roll returned to downtown Monticello Saturday morning with a route along Walnut Street, which was closed to traffic.

The event found plenty of locals walking, rolling and baby-strolling — along with other forms of recreation and transportation, from scooters to wagons and even a remote-controlled pint-size Jeep.

Much like last year, when road repairs forced a deviation from the former path in 2023, this year’s annual recreation celebration again took an alternative route to avoid downtown street improvements.

In addition to the main stretch along Walnut, the area behind the Monticello Community Center was a hotbed of activity. There, Mayor Lloyd Hilgart was handing out free ice cream cones supplied by the local Mexican ice cream shop La Michoacana Delights.

There was also a climbing wall, a fire truck for kids to check out, a DJ and more.

Over at the Park Barn behind the MCC, Monticello Royal Ambassador candidates were on hand helping with fitting the discounted helmets that were for sale.

Booths were set up by participating businesses and organizations all along the route on Walnut, getting check marks stamped along the way as part of the "Pathport" program.

At these booths, a total of nearly 40 “Pathway Partners” offered activities or health-related displays along the Walk & Roll route.

At the end of the event, about 30 new bikes were handed out to winners of the "Pathport" drawing.