The weather forecast was for rain last Wednesday afternoon with a forecast of more rain for later in the week, but Wednesday morning was clear. The weather helped motivate a large turnout by the Walking on Wednesday group sponsored by the Piedmont Recreation Department. They turned out in force at the Ex- edra, the usual starting place for the weekly walks throughout the city.
A total of 23 walkers and three K-9 best friend participated in the walk, including first time walker Michael Marx, who joined his wife, Pauline, for the walk. The grouphas a number of couples who have been on the walks: the DeRoches, Henns, Dongs, Raskins, Whites and now the Marxs.
One week earlier the walkers had postponed a planned walk to the Beach School neighborhood be- cause of road work in the area. The group has an informal objective of eventually walking every street in Piedmont, and there are still a num- ber of streets on the northwest side of Piedmont that they have not walked.
Greenbank Avenue, that starts at Oakland Avenue, crosses Grand Avenue and goes up a hill to Rose Avenue, was a notable street that the group had not walked, and it was chosen as the day's destination.
The large number of walkers al- most looked like a prelude to the 4th of July parade as they headed down Highland Avenue to Oakland Av- enue. As they headed downhill on Oakland Ave., Kim Franklin with K-9 best friend Fritz joined them at San Carlos Avenue.
The group continued onto the 200 block of Greenbank, the well- trod shortcut to Piedmont Avenue for many. They crossed Grand Avenue, and continued uphill on Greenbank, continuing to Rose Avenue. Turning left, they walked the length of Rose, crossed Linda Avenue and went up Kingston past the city's new land- scaped triangle at that intersection.
Walking on the 700 block of Kingston Avenue is unusual in that the homes on the north side of the street are in Oakland, while those on the south side are in Piedmont. There are many interesting homes on the street, but the classic Victorian at 836 Kingston is a thing of true beauty. By chance, the resident was getting his mail as the walkers passed, and he was happy to provide some his- tory.
The home was built in 1885 on Monte Vista Avenue and moved one block in 1910 to its current location on Kingston. Seeing this unique home for the first time was another example of the benefits of walking the streets of Piedmont.
The group continued on Linda Avenue, past Beach School, looked at the area under the Oakland Avenue Bridge that will be developed as part of the new Linda Beach Master Plan, then cut through the walkway by the new townhomes that have been built between Linda and Oakland Avenues. Once back on Oakland Avenue the walkers got a good workout going six blocks uphill on Oakland Avenue to Highland Avenue and then back to the Exedra. The sky was clear and the temperature had risen so that it was warm finish to a very enjoyable walk with Walking on Wednesdays friends.
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