Thursday's Internet Edition, September 02, 2010.

The event will be Saturday at the Heritage Park Community Building, with registration starting at 8 a.m. and the walk at 9.

It will be the first time downtown for the Heart Walk. Previously, it was staged on the Ambrosio Walking Path at Roane General Hospital.

“We want to get the community more involved,” Bonnie Seen, organizer of the event and wellness director for Roane General, said. “We think this will make it a little more accessible to more people. Our goal is to make it more of a community event.”

The hospital, which sponsors the Heart Walk, would like more people to join in raising money to fight heart disease. The city of Spencer figures to gain from the new venue as more people visit downtown.

“With people driving through town, they’re more likely to get exposure,” city marketing director Jacob Fetty said of the Heart Walk. “It’s something to try. If it’s good, it’s good. If not, we’ll revamp it.”

The noncompetitive walk will start with a rally, during which the names of local heart disease survivors will be announced.

Survivors will receive red hats and pins before honorary chair Taylor Goodall, a 5-year-old with heart disease, leads a ceremonial first lap on the level ground at Heritage Park. Red balloons available for purchase in honor or memory of a loved one, will be launched as well.

Walkers, including many who have raised money for the American Heart Association, will then follow a course that leads to the courthouse square and around the building. Sidewalks will be used, and parking spaces will be closed to allow for safer walking. City policemen will be stationed at intersections to alert motorists.

Along with the walk, an inflatable obstacle course will be set up at Heritage Park, which will also host other activities for children. Seen said kids should be able to attend the Heart Walk and still have plenty of time to take in Spencer-Roane Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Safety Town event scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the same day.

The Heart Walk will offer blood pressure checks, finger sticks for cholesterol screening and body mass index calculations will be available. There will also be educational displays, door prizes and healthy snacks.

Seen noted that 65 million Americans have high blood pressure, 100 million have borderline or high cholesterol, 136 million are overweight or obese and that 36,000 babies each year are born with a heart defect.

“Heart disease is still the number one killer in the nation,” she said.

Fetty said the Heart Walk’s goal is to start changing those numbers on the local level.

“We’re going to raise awareness first,” he said. “If it leads to healthier lifestyles, that’s the goal.”