It was a beautiful Halloween morning for the Piedmont Recreation Department's Walking on Wednesdays group last week. Some of the walkers were wearing Halloween garb, and the group thought it had a new member joining them until they realized that the platinum blond in the crowd was actually Nancy DeRoche in a striking wig. Even without any new walkers last week,
the turnout was great with a record 18 walkers. The DeRoche's faithful K9 companion, Chili, was wearing a Halloween bandana, so he was in the spirit of the holiday too.
At Patty White's suggestion the day was started with the announcement of the Piedmont Historical Society's 46th Annual Meeting and Reception on Sunday, November 18 at 4 p.m. in the
Piedmont Community Hall. The walkers have enjoyed many of Gail Lombardi's Piedmont histories and were encouraged to consider joining the Historical Society.
Noemi Alvarado also suggested the group have a moment of silence for those recently killed in senseless violence. Additionally, the walkers had a visit from Bret Black, Piedmont's new fire chief and husband of walker Nimai Black.
The walkers often find inspiration for their walks from the Post. The October 24th issue had a street view picture of Dracena Avenue where each year the neighbors make hundreds of small ghosts which they suspend from the trees lining the street. The group thought it would be fun to walk over and see them in daylight before they got scary.
Starting on Bonita Avenue the walkers encountered a very junior Halloween fireman. Nimai Black
took a picture of him as a potential future recruit for her husband. The walkers also enjoyed the spooky house decorations along the way, although K-9 Chili DeRoche was not too pleased with the dog skeletons that were in front of some of the homes. The large number of miniature ghosts on Dracena made of small plastic bags trees were a sight and worth the trip.
After their visit with the Dracena ghosts the walkers continued down through the beautifully updated Dracena Park to its tot lot where they encountered a Batman and a caped Marvel superhero who were busy having Halloween fun.
For the return trip to their Exedra starting point, the walkers took a slight side trip to walk up Latham Street, the only street in Piedmont that is actually named a "street" according to the Historical Society.
The group has an informal goal of eventually walking all the streets of Piedmont, and they got to check off Latham Street last Wednesday.
It was another enjoyable walk on a beautiful Piedmont day that included visits with ghosts and some cute, costumed kids celebrating Halloween