Good morning! Hope this Friday morning is treating you well!  You know what, I can't do this - I'm just going to come out and say it - we've had an oil spill. 

The meetings this week have seemed endless at times. They have, however, only strengthened the faith we have in our tremendous advisors and the confidence I have in those around us as we move forward.  Let me please share with you the salient points of this week and the position Just Walk is taking.

1. We want, no, we need to offer full disclosure to our participants.  We need our walkers to feel safe at our events.

2. While we are certainly embarrassed and do not wish to diminish the significance of what occurred at our walk last Saturday, we believe there are fundamental differences from the Gulf disaster.  They are as follows:

 
a) The amount is significantly less - we believe it to be anywhere from 10-14 ounces. Absolutely, no more than 16 oz (size of the bottle).

b) Our spill was not crude oil, but rather olive oil (heart healthy in moderation, see below).

c) The spill was contained almost entirely underneath the picnic table immediately adjacent to the southern pavilion.  Its' evaporation has been judged "Full and 100% completed" by our engineering consultants (Acme Inc.).

d) We immediately contacted the manufacturer (for legal reasons shall remain anonymous.  We could get into serious trouble if the name was ever to be released to the public).  While this corporation self-admittedly does not regularly deal with "environmental situations", they have indeed assured us that "no further testing or reporting needs to be conducted in regards to this occurrence".  A matter of fact, they have given us full permission to remove the 18 six-foot orange safety cones encapsulating the area.  They were an absolute pleasure to deal with.  On a personal note, your laughter over the phone helped relax us in our period of anxiety. Thank you Colavita!

Now, let's get to the real elephant in the room.  We know you are aware President Obama is visiting Columbus today.  We know that you know there has been a massive oil spill.  You see where I'm going with this.

Walk with a Doc's Official Statement is that we are unable to either confirm or deny whether or not there will be a tour of region where the accident took place.  I'm afraid that is all we are at liberty for disclosing at this time.  We can share, however that we our executive leadership has NOT requested emergency federal funding for what took place last Saturday.

I appreciate your patience and please, finally, let me share this.  Walk with a Doc is a place, a happy place, where we want you to feel safe to exercise and be willing to voice your thoughts.  If you care to discuss concerns amongst the group or to your physician leader in private - we are prepared and ready for that discussion.  We want to earn back your trust.

Thank you for your time and understanding in this most delicate of matters.

 

Your health is vitally important to us.  Please continue your daily progress of getting out and walking, biking, swimming, etc.  Even if you have to start small - that's okay.  It is still making a BIG difference and leading to a bigger difference. You know just as well as me that getting/staying active is easy and it's fun. 

Have a great, great weekend.
See you Saturday!

David