November 29, 1997: In past years, I was always out of the area in far-western PA during this walk, so this was the first time I ever did it. I had to keep the doggies home unfortunately, but in addition to bringing my daughter Robin to walk with me, my older daughter Tracy and my wife Jeanne accompanied me on the drive up to this south-central PA town. Tracy and Jeanne shopped while Robin and I walked. The start point was in the Hershey Outlet Center so it made it very easy to work out the arrangements for getting together after finishing the walk. There were a lot of people out shopping, and many more visiting the Hershey entertainment complex. Cloudy, drizzly weather down in Maryland didn't start the day out very well, but I noticed on the morning weather roundup that a possible sunny area might hang in there for south-central PA for most of the day, and sure enough, as we drew closer the sun came out and the walking day turned out great, weather-wise.
Never having done this walk, I was a bit surprised at the necessary heightened amount of organization needed for this popular walk. Signs led us to the parking lot, where an attendant showed us where to go, and the direction of the start point. Not knowing exactly where the start point was, I entered the Outlet Center and reasoned that I should go to the other end. As I turned the corner there was the AVA flag and a big welcome sign from the host club, the
Susquehanna Rovers.
Registration and walk instructions were obtained easily, despite a good crowd of incoming and outgoing walkers. Robin could only do one trail, so we did the historic highlights trail, a 10 KM, 1+ rated walk that led us towards the town of Hershey and gave close up views of the amusement park, Candylane and Chocolate World. I decided to purchase the award for this event, which was a really nice cloisonne pin commemorating the 1997 Hershey Holiday Walkfest. There were some 400 walkers to do this trail on Friday night, and an additional 1,000 to do the two trails on Saturday. The country trail, which we didn't do, had a 5 hour window on Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 2 pm, but the trail we did had a big 8 hour start window from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday. This allowed walkers to experience the trail in the dark if so desired, armed with flashlights, and see all the beautifully illuminated Holiday sights on the trail. This event was truly memorable and one of the biggest I have ever attended.
We started about 2 pm, and saw lots of familiar faces throughout the walk and at the start/finish. The trail passed by the Wildcat roller coaster, a wooden one we happened to ride a few summers ago when it first opened. It is, by the way, a great ride! We saw more of the park as we strolled by, including the ground just broken for the newest coaster for 1998, the Great Bear. We passed by
Chocolate World and the actual factory where all that famous Hershey's Chocolate is made. A monorail ride was open to show you more, but we kept going. We entered the actual downtown area of Hershey, a typical older PA town. After a few blocks on the main drag of town, we turned right and headed south and out of town on a residential street. Nice older homes with manicured lawns, and lots of owners putting out their holiday decorations on the pleasant afternoon. A school complex was then reached, with the elementary, middle and then High School reached.
A turn into the High School grounds, past the track, and into the wide open athletic fields. Then the one and only checkpoint was reached at the town recreation center, a nice place where we could make use of all the facilities, plus re-energize with complimentary chocolate candies at the checkpoint table. We chatted a minute with the nice people staffing the table, and then went back on the trail.
More neighborhoods, with more busy homeowners raking leaves and putting up Holiday decorations, plus a few wayward dog-walkers, who were wondering about all the walkers. Slowly we worked our way back into town, staying on a loop however, and not duplicating any part of the trail. In some places you had to really watch where you walked, as the old sidewalk surfaces were quite uneven. We walked through the downtown area once again, and then started walking on the other side of the amusement park, seeing different rides and attractions than before.
Next: Continued
