Streets come alive as pedestrians, bicyclists fill downtown F-M

• Kalena Taralson, right, and her family, neighbors and friends cheer

Kalena Taralson, right, and her family, neighbors and friends cheer while they coast down Broadway near Main Avenue in Fargo on their bikes Sunday during the F-M Streets Alive event. Carrie Snyder / The Forum
• Janelle Kotta helps Faith Schatzke tumble

Janelle Kotta helps Faith Schatzke tumble down a mat at the American Gold Gymnastics booth in Woodlawn Park in Moorhead on Sunday as part of the F-M Streets Alive event. Carrie Snyder / The Forum

Talk about it

The only wheels that rolled down Broadway in Fargo from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday were people-powered.

Downtown Fargo and Moorhead were filled with bicyclists, Rollerbladers, walkers and joggers of all ages for Streets Alive, a festival to promote physical activity.

A five-mile stretch of streets connecting downtown Fargo and Moorhead and looping around Island, Woodlawn and Oak Grove parks was closed to motor vehicles to allow Streets Alive participants to take to the streets.

Tiny tots on bicycles with training wheels pedaled the roadways with a five-seat bike, unicycles, and bicycles stacked two-frames high.

Tom, Denise and Connor Coleman of Hawley, Minn., took advantage of the event to get out and get some exercise, Tom Coleman said.

“It’s nice to get out and people-watch and exercise,” he said.

“It brings the families out together,” Denise Coleman added.

Rory Beil, director of the Cass-Clay Healthy People Initiative, one of the event’s organizers, estimated that 5,000 to 7,500 people participated in the event. North Dakota State University graduate students will have an official tally Tuesday, he said.

Dakota Medical Foundation led the event. Active in Moorhead, a public agency partnership underwritten by Blue Cross Blue Shield, was a major partner. Several other groups also helped put the event together, Beil said.

“We’re really just trying to promote getting people outside, using the streets for biking and walking and Rollerblading, pretty much getting out there and exercising,” said Keely Ihry, Active in Moorhead project manager. “It’s great to see different age groups and different levels.”

Several activities were planned along the route, including dance classes, games and obstacle courses.

In Participation Parkway in Moorhead’s Woodlawn Park, Janelle Kotta helped 2-year-old Alexis somersault over a padded tube. As she flipped onto a padded mat, the little girl’s face lit up in an elated smile.

Kotta, of Fargo, is with American Gold Gymnastics, and she helped children tumble and roll at Streets Alive.

“It was really great to see the community come out,” she said.

Another Streets Alive event is planned Sept. 19. Organizers hope to make the festival an annual event, Ihry said.

If you go

• What: Streets Alive

• When: Noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 19

• Where: A five-mile loop connecting downtown Fargo-Moorhead, including Island, Woodlawn and Oak Grove parks

• Online: www.fmstreetsalive.org

Readers can reach Forum reporter Tracy Frank at (701) 241-5526

Tags: streets alive, summer events, news, events, fargo, moorhead, health, fitness, broadway, fccnetwork