The morning mall walkers include, from left, John Brooks, Mike Hunter, David Hawkins, Stephen Pike, Jerry Ownbey and Beverly Williams
photo by John Wilson
For a group of local mall walkers, it has become a team sport.
Every morning just before Hamilton Place Mall opens its doors, they begin arriving near the mall entrance.
The group greets each new arrival with a friendly shout. When the doors finally open, they are off on their accustomed rounds.
David Hawkins said the walkers have become good buddies over the past 10 years or so. They bunch into smaller groups and chat as they push forward with the main mission of the morning.
When the husband of regular Beverly Williams was hospitalized, some of them paid him a visit. She said, "He told them he wasn't sure the group really existed, and he wondered what I really did every morning."
Ms. Williams, who came to Chattanooga as a TVA nurse, said she began walking for the exercise value and fell in with the friendly fellow walkers.
While making her rounds, she began checking out the Tradehome shoe store. Store manager Cole Verhagen said she is now his best customer after buying multiple pairs. He said, "We call her the real store manager."
Mr. Hawkins said most of the walkers drop off after about an hour. However, he goes for eight miles each morning, and it takes about an hour and a half.
He said sometimes you have to have a thick skin to be a member of this group. "We'll give you a hard time," he said.
When he is not walking, the talented vocalist is often performing. He has sung at hundreds of funerals and led several church choirs.
No doubt when he was singing at a funeral, Stephen Pike was often in the same room. But the two did not know one another well until they became part of the unofficial club.
Mr. Pike, whose family has long operated Chattanooga Funeral Home, said the mall is a perfect place to walk. He said, "It never rains inside the mall and it's climate controlled."
He said not only Ms. Williams, but other walkers, often make mall purchases. "CBL loves us," he said.
Mr. Pike said the group gravitates to the second floor, which is carpeted, in preference over the firmer first floor.
At one time they arrived just before the opening time of 6 a.m. But with COVID, that changed. The current opening time is not until 11 a.m., though Mr. Pike believes the mall may soon begin to open sooner.
Whatever the time, the mall walkers will show up - one at a time, then walking the familiar circuit together.
Making good time at the mall
photo by John Wilson