The Main Street Wellness Walk returns to downtown Medford Saturday with events that will include a mystery hunt in downtown shops.
The idea for the walk came in 2019, from Abbie Gallie, vice president of the Main Street Merchants and founder of Destination Medford, and Susan Drummond, a Reiki Master and medium who owns The Center, Life in Balance in the township. The latter noted why the event is so special to the center and those interested in spirituality.
“We love doing it,” Drummond said. “Everything we do at The Center, Life in Balance is about healing, and it’s about finding all different ways to educate people on healing. This walk is a way to gather community, to let people know that there is another way to get rid of that kind of negativity to bring positivity in.”
Although not intentional, the wellness walk comes a month after May’s Mental Health Awareness Month, what Gallie described as a “happy coincidence.” She said the idea for a walk down Main Street started as a joke years ago, a reference to the event’s rainouts. Gallie and Drummond never thought the idea would turn into an event, but thought, why not?
“It came from that place, and then we were like actually that could be kind of cool, let’s just go for it,” Gallie recalled. “And it ended up being a really fun event. It’s unique: You definitely don’t find an experience like that very often.”
The walk incorporates a mystery hunt for a particular word at businesses on Main Street. Once all words are collected by the businesses, the result is a wellness slogan that Drummond picks and puts together for residents.
Following the hunt, Drummond will hand out the herb sage to adults and Amethyst Crystals to children so they can walk down and make a loop down Main Street back to The Center, Life in Balance on South Main. The day ends with an energetic releasing there by way of a burn ceremony where participants will gather.
“It’s a nice, niche type of event for downtown.” Gallie said of the walk, which begins at 1 p.m.
