"The Great Communal Walkabout" hopes to restore friendly conversation in Westminster

WESTMINSTER ― Bill Carroll is on a mission to make community conversation civil again.

Carroll, who is 67 and has lived in Westminster since 1992, is currently a doctoral student at the University of Southern Maine. One of the courses in his degree program, “Leadership and Organizational Studies,” encourages students to express their leadership creativity by developing and putting into practice a random act of civic kindness.

Thus was born the “The Great Communal Walkabout” event, which will take place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 29.

“It’s just citizens in the town getting together for a friendly stroll, with no agenda, no fundraising, no cause – no other purpose than just the simple act of taking a walk together,” Carroll explained. “Just having a simple walk with no other cause is just kind of a basic human goodness that I’m trying to inspire with this event.”

The friendly morning stroll, which will kick off in front of the Town Hall, will see participants walk along Main St. to the Cumberland Farms, and then cross the street for the return trip.

“It’s a simple loop but it covers most of the downtown area,” he said.

Walkabout event aimed at returning friendly conversation to community

Carroll, who cleared the event with town officials, said the time was right to bring friendly conversation back to the community.

“As you know, we’re in a time where there’s a lot of divisiveness, people are opposed to each other for so many reasons,” he said. “But this is an instance where there’s no reason to have any opposition to anyone, and just by taking a walk together (you’re reminded) that you share a town, you share a community.

Officials hoping to make Westminster a more walkable town

Town Planner Tracy Murphy applauded Carroll’s idea of a communal walkabout and said the event actually came with an additional community benefit.

“Having the event be a walkabout will also bring attention to the condition of the infrastructure (sidewalks, crosswalks, etc.) in our downtown which in turn will help provide input and support for methods to improve the area,” Murphy said. “The town is always interested in improving the walkability in downtown and hopes to accomplish that as soon as an effective plan is in place and appropriate funding opportunities become available.”

Town Manager Stephanie Lahtinen said she supported the event, and complimented Carroll on putting it all together.

"I think the pandemic had a huge impact on how we all interact with one another, taking away much of the human factor of conversation," she said. "Face to face to interactions are often the most productive and yield the best results so I am very excited for the outcome. Hopefully, this will lead to new connections, shared ideas, and friendships for people in town."

Walkabout aimed at bringing neighbors together

Carroll said he wanted to find a way to celebrate community that hadn’t been before, something that didn’t require volunteers to engage in somewhat solitary efforts such as picking up trash from roadways.

“I wanted to come up with something that had people thinking a little bit differently about it, especially given all the divisiveness we so often experience with so many opposing political views, - this was one of those ways to cut through all that,” he said.

“Picking up trash may make people feel good about cleanliness and the environment, but it doesn’t bring people together for something that might see you make friends, become more familiar with your downtown, or feel a renewed sense of community – and that’s the only objective,” Carroll added.

The announcement of the walkabout event was placed on social media a few weeks ago, and Carroll said that about 50 people expressed interest in taking part in the event. He has since placed flyers in establishments around town to get the word out, he said.

“I’m not sure if that 50 initial respondents has grown or not,” said Carroll, who added that he had spoken to the Westminster Police Department in the event that a larger-than-expected number of people turn out to take part in the event.

Carroll said he hoped the walkabout would become a regular event in the community, and perhaps inspire others to put their own unique spin on the friendly stroll.

“This is certainly nothing that has to be locked in stone as far as this idea, it could grow to be other ideas, and I would certainly welcome it if did,” he said.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Great Communal Walkabout should text their questions to 781-710-0363.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Westminster's "The Great Communal Walkabout" takes place this Saturday