St Agatha Home Kids Walk

Those interested in joining the FREE walk will meet at the Gazebo. You can register for the walk there so you should come early. The walk begins at 12:00 noon and will last no longer than one hour. We will end in the gazebos on the front lawn. Parking will be EASIEST if we arrive early. Be there at least by 10:00 AM or earlier to ensure parking availability. Victor Castro will be our guide. There may also be guest speakers walking with us. Enjoy the Guided grounds walk!

This walk will coincide with the local "Nanuet Family Festival" at 135 Convent Road, Nanuet NY 10954 and the annual gathering of the St. Agatha alumni, which occurs every year around the weekend after Memorial Day. This year it will be on Saturday June 1st, 2013 with the rain date scheduled for Sunday June 2nd, 2012.

This walk is designed to continue the work started seven years ago by the organizations of "The Rockland Health Department" and "Healthy Steps Rockland," "Americorp Rockland" and "The Rockland County Parks Department" that have reached out to the Rockland community at large to create the "Rockland County Volunteer Docent Trail Guides." These trained volunteers set up, design, and facilitate themed walks throughout the Lower Hudson area in our local town, County and State parks. These walks have introduced many people to their local parks, increased their individual socialization and has increased the amount of people using park lands, provided heart healthy personal activity and on some occasions have brought much of the local history alive for many participants.

The theme and design of this walk in conjunction with the "Nanuet Outdoor Educational Center" and the "Nanuet Family Resource Center" is to keep alive the memory of the institution, "St. Agatha Home for Children" that opened in Nanuet NY in 1884. The facility provided services to raise, educate and care for destitute children, "Home Kids," until it closed. Much of these former grounds are now the recreational park grounds, recognized as the "Nanuet, Outdoor Educational Center".

The Docent and Sweep will discuss and answer questions and invite guest speakers to walk and talk about the history of this site as part of the event. This easy walk is scheduled for no longer than one hour. There are paved walking paths throughout the park with restroom facilities at the beginning of our walk. There are open-air gazebos available to retire to in case of inclement weather. All of the information provided (with permission) is from the research in the book: "Home Kids - The Story of St. Agatha Home for Children" by the author Nancy Canfield.

"Home Kids Walked here..."

Who.. Where.. What.. When.. How.. Why..