County Commissioners approve use of roads for Justice Walk May 18th

Monday, April 8, 2024 at 4:18 PM

Last week, a representative of Never the Same, Harvey Elgersma presented information on the Justic Walk scheduled for May 18th.

Anyone who wants to make a difference with their life by fighting injustice in our world in invited to participate. This walk will also help raise awareness and funds for The Justice Trail film.

Geoff Eckart who grew up in Indianapolis and served as a youth pastor at Plymouth Wesleyan Church for a few years in the late 90’s walked the Trail of Death in 2020 from the monument in Marshall County to Kansas. That walk had such an impact on his life and how he thought about justice in the world that he organized this one-day walk.

Walkers will have the opportunity to experience what the Potawatomi experienced when they were forced to leave Marshall County. This walk is an opportunity for everyone who walks to think about what justice means to them and how they might apply it in their own individual lives. Hopefully help correct a wrong that they know is happening.

The walk begins at the Chief Menominee Monument on Peach Road in Marshall County. All walkers will begin the journey at the Plymouth Wesleyan Church on South Michigan Street. Walkers will be bussed to the monument in the 12,000 block of Peach Road to begin their walk. This walk has three options, a 3-mile walk which should take about an hour, a 10-mile walk they estimate to take 3-4 hours, and the 21-mile walk that ends at the Menominee Public Fishing area in Fulton County. The 21-mile walk will take 7 to 8 hours. All walkers must be off the course by 6 p.m. At the end of their walk a bus will pick them up and bring them back to the church.

The goal is to get 900 to 1,000 people to participate in the walk. The fee is $99 through May 1st. Participants will receive a t-shirt and water bottle.

The Marshall County Commissioners were asked to grant approval to walk on several county roads including Peach Road, 13th Road, Olive Trail, 14B Road, Nutmeg Road, Muckshaw Road, 14C Road, Maple Road, 19th Road and Old U.S. Highway 31. They were also asked for permission to set port-a-johns on the county’s right-of-way for walkers.

The Marshall County Commissioner gave approval for the use of county roadways for the one day walk and placing port-a-john’s on the county’s right-of-way with the assistance of Highway Superintendent Jason Peters.