2022 Turkey Wattle Waddle Tally

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2022 Turkey Wattle Waddle Tally

An Overview of the 2022 Turkey Wattle Waddle

2022 Overview:

Congratulations and thank you to all who were able to participate in the Thanksgiving Turkey Wattle Waddle this year. Hope you had fun! It was great to hear from everyone, learn about your holiday celebration and see all the good efforts. For anyone who missed it, there’s always next year, hope you’ll join in.

After tallying up what you’ve sent me I’m happy to report that the Wattle Waddle covered over almost 139 MILES!

This year we have much to be thankful for and many prospects for better times ahead. Among the extended family we have some new homes, new jobs, new babies--and hopefully more to come!

This year we were joined by a new friend - Isabella Coquis in Fort Myers, and once again our old friend - Hayden Schoen (aka Hayden the Elder, or Hayden the White) who is Hayden (the Younger)’s dad in Chicagoland.

 Here are some highlights results:

• We had people Waddling across the country – from New England to California – and many points in between.
• There were 28 Wattle Waddlers ranging from the old folks, adults, teens, an infant, June (with help of course) and dogs!
• Walking was the most common activity, but there was also a little pickle ball and gardening.
• Many of the Fort Myers, FL crew and I ran in formal Thanksgiving Day Road Races (the Paseo and Troy Turkey Trots respectively)
• Nancy Talsky in Pompano Beach, FL, was again our most senior and most elegant Waddler (and probably one of the fittest!)

Suffice to say, we all burned a LOT of calories during our Waddles (and ideally more than we took in!)

Here’s how things compare for the past three years:

2020:     130.7 miles / 26 participants

2021:     153.51 miles / 33 participants

2022:     138.75 miles / 28 participants

Video of 2022 Thanksgiving and the Wattle Waddle

 

Wattle Waddle 2022 - Let's Do This!

 

Turkey Wattle Waddle - FAMILY, FUN, FOOD and FITNESS -- Join Us

Hello everyone:

Almost Thanksgiving, time for holiday activities and traditions, both old and new. For me, Thanksgiving traditions are about FAMILY, FUN, FOOD and FITNESS.

I invite you again this year to join me in a virtual Thanksgiving tradition - something I've been calling the Turkey Wattle Waddle for the last few years.

Last year we had Waddlers from the Schoen, DeLois, Paster, Barley, Slater, Talsky, Kil and Barbato families.

This year we need to see some Kings (Lynn and Mike) and Wyners (Sam and Adam) in the group AND welcome in Baby June and Baby Sebastian too! And my brother John -HELLO- we're looking for you kid! MaryBeth, let's break in that new and improved hip! Emily, don't let your arthritic big toe stop you! Bridget & Mike -- will your boys dominate the Waddle again? (Also, more dogs would be awesome too) 

THE WATTLE WADDLE EXPERIENCE IS:

Ø   a way to add a little aerobic fitness to your holiday and unwind, get the blood flowing, burn some calories before (or after) the big feast—and participate with family and friends in a shared experience!

 

Ø   a chance to confirm, commit, or commence a healthy and active lifestyle – right now - this week! Show gratitude for your health and all the good things life has to offer during this unique holiday.

 

Ø   simply taking a nice brisk walk or a run in your neighborhood—or wherever you find yourself for the holiday. Leave a little time to get in an aerobic workout even if it’s your home gym, treadmill, or peloton etc. If anyone is participating in a formal Turkey Trot event etc. (like me!) that is a perfect method to Waddle too (the running geek in me would love to hear all about it!)

 

Ø   for everybody - kids, young adults, middle-agers, and oldsters…and your four-legged family members too (who love to walk and run, you know).

 Please pass it on - as I may not have contact info for everybody, please pass on the Turkey Wattle Waddle info to others in the family and any friends who might get a kick from this virtual event for fun & fitness before the feast!

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

1. “Get your Waddle on” anytime from Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, 11/24/2022 through Saturday, 11/26/2022. (Though traditionally this was a Thanksgiving Day thing, I've extended the time frame for your convenience and in the interest of more participation).

 

2.  SEND ME YOUR INFORMATION AND I'LL TALLY IT UP!  (Preferably via email, but text is okay). 

 

Info needed is: 

·         Location - where you did your Wattle Waddle?

·         Activity – what did you do?

o   WALK

o   RUN

o   BIKE

o   SPIN/ELLIPTICAL/OTHER

·         Distance – how far did you Waddle?  Estimates are okay. Otherwise just skip distance and use your Time (Duration) or Steps (Steps are okay too if you use a Fitbit or compatible device, I can use a simple conversion to get the distance in miles)

·         Duration – how much time were you actively Waddling?

·         (Optional) Calories – if you have any measure, about how many calories did you burn? If you have no idea, don't worry.

I'll do my best to compile things in terms of distance, maybe time or calories burned too. I'll send results via another group email, text and post on Facebook or something! Would love to have you be part of this Thanksgiving tradition.

Please share any news about your holiday and lots of photos too.

RECAP OF 2021 Turkey Wattle Waddle:

Almost 153 Miles were trekked by 33 Waddlers comprising extended family and friends. Our participants included old folks, boomers, adults, teens, little kids, babies, and dogs! We were waddling across the globe – from Ireland to the Midwest – and many points in between. My MIL – Nancy K. Talsky was our Matriarch Waddler logging miles in Pompano Beach with her cute little pooch Bentley.

Walking was the most common activity, in addition to walking and running, there was peloton, elliptical, swimming, and TRAMPOLINING. Tony DeLois and I kicked some asphalt in formal Turkey Trot races as well.

Bob Barbato

barbato.bob@gmail.com

Logging Your Wattle Waddle

 

Logging Your Wattle Waddle

Please add names for all Wattle Waddlers (Do not forget little people and dogs are welcome to Waddle too!). And other info about your Waddle listed below.

NAME(s): ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­__________________________________________

1.      Location - where are you doing your Wattle Waddle?

2.      Activity – what are doing?  Choose one (or more of you are super active):

o   WALK

o   RUN

o   BIKE

o   SPIN/ELIPTICAL/OTHER

3.      Distance – how far did you Waddle?  Estimates are okay

 -Alternatively, use Steps (If you use a FitBit or other device etc.)

4.      Duration – how much time were you actively Waddling?

5.      Event – was your activity part of an organized event (e.g., the East Podunk Turkey Trot etc.)?

Turkey Wattle Waddle -- some background/history

 

In the Barbato family, there has always been interest and an informal Thanksgiving Day tradition for getting fresh air and a little exercise before the big feast (the rest of the year, not so much...). 

It began when my brothers and I were young boys. Our dad (aka John B; or Papa John) would take us on a walk from our house in Lyncourt, just over the city line, all the way to “the Grays” Butternut Street homestead on Syracuse’s North Side, the rest of the year we’d always drive between our house and theirs. “The Grays" is John-speak for the DeSantis/Frascati relatives– my Grandma Mary & Grandpa Lawrence (Lorenzo) DeSantis and Auntie Mary (and our Great-grandma ‘Scati before she died). According to my dad, this was a way of working up our appetites - and I suspect a way to get the kids out of the way of the cooks!

LtoR  - Johnny, John (Dad) and Bobby (This was proabably Easter, not Thanksgiving, but this is how we looked back in the day)

A Thanksgiving dinner LtoR  - Auntie Mary, Nancy Jean (Mom), Bobby, John (Dad) Tommy

A Thanksgiving dinner LtoR  - Great-Grandma Nunziata Frascati (Gramma 'Scati), Auntie Mary, Tommy, John (Dad), Nancy Jean (Mom), Bobby, Johnny

That walk was no more than three miles I’d guess. Yet it seemed like a long journey to me, full of sights and sounds while traversing several neighborhoods and busy thoroughfares on foot. The rest of the year that trip was always by car. Syracuse, in late November, can be very cold and brisk (or worse)– I remember us in heavy overcoats and jackets, plodding what seemed to be uphill the whole way. 

We could smell turkeys cooking and pies baking from Darlington Rd., on Grant Blvd and all down Butternut Street – passing by dozens of single and multi-family houses, apartments, storefront shops and businesses (like Kress Drugs -open on Thanksgiving! They never closed—they were probably the first 24/7 drug store in the world).  

As we grew into teens and young adults one year there was a Thanksgiving running challenge. I proposed to run around our block (an approx. ¼ mile loop of Darlington Rd/Hillside St/Kenwick Ave/Orwood Pl) a certain number of times (I don’t remember how many, maybe 10 times?). I made it fairly organized with a big yellow piece of tape on the sidewalk in front of our house to serve as my start and finish line – and Papa John as an official observer. Tom (aka Tommy) always a tease and naysayer, bet me $10 that I could not do it – long story short, I did it and never saw the $10! (Maybe he needed to get a loan from Johnny!) There is a Super 8 movie Dad filmed of this somewhere.

More recently, the one and only, and perhaps last, time the entire family was together for Thanksgiving at Grandma Jean’s and Papa Johns’ house, several of us did the first Auntie Run – something a bit more organized among the family. We ran from Sophie Druciak’s house in Eastwood to Auntie Mary DeSantis’ house on Darlington Road. It was fun, with Papa John and Jake driving along the route as race marshals/security/first aid – and Aunt Mary reluctant to let Tom in the house to use the bathroom at the finish! I think Joe and Bridget were the fastest.

From these origins we grew the idea of a virtual Thanksgiving Day walk or run to share the joy of exercise and the experiencing the world around us, wherever we were. And many of us began taking part in official Turkey Trot races and events in our communities I think because of our history.

On this special day to be grateful, let's use the Wattle Waddle as a way of showing appreciation for the gift of health, the chance to get fitter, and a time to share with each other what’s important in life.

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