Conte’s 600-mile journey makes its way through Warren County
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Conte started the Warren County portion of her 600-mile journey across the state near the county line on Highway 55 and made her way to Morrison School for a program, then turned up at Morrison’s Dollar General where local registration for the walk and a brief ceremony took place.
After starting the walk in Memphis in September, Conte entered the halfway point of her walk in Warren County. Supporters both turned out for the walk and cheered from the roadside.
“I think it’s very honorable for her to do something like this,” bystander Pam Laxson said after coming out to the edge of her property at Uncle John’s Kitchen to see the walkers and the First Lady pass by on Highway 55.
Laxson said she is just now learning of the local center’s existence due to the walk and the related publicity, which is a goal of the walk.
“To me, there’s nothing worse than a child being abused either sexually, physically or even verbally and maybe this is a start to where one day, we won’t need a walk,” Laxson said, adding she has hopes the efforts of people working with the Children’s Advocacy Center would break a repeatable cycle of abuse than can affect generations.
That kind of spirit is something the First Lady, on her first visit to Morrison, said was encouraging.
“It’s been wonderful. People have turned out, people have come out of their houses and waved from their front doors and the students were just fabulous. It’s that kind of encouragement that just keeps us going a long time, even on days when we’re tired,” she said.
Local Children’s Advocacy Center program director Anita Moore said the 13-mile section of yesterday’s walk was completed about an hour before it was scheduled to and that approximately 30 people walked. She expected more to participate today as the walk spans about eight miles through the city.
Registration for walkers who want to participate in a part of or all of today’s walk is scheduled at 8 a.m. at Hickory Creek Elementary. The walk begins at 9 a.m. on Pioneer Lane and ends at the Children’s Advocacy Center on Sparta Street after making its way through town primarily on Chancery Street and the Highway 70 Bypass.