HARLINGEN — A better, fitter and more active city is just a click away.
For the second year, the city of Harlingen and Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District are leading the push on our streets, in gyms and at parks in the It’s Time Texas Community Challenge.
Last year in their size categories the city finished fifth and HCISD first.
The competition involves municipalities, schools, businesses, churches and other groups and individuals posting their fitness activities along with “healthy selfies” to the contest’s website online at itstimetexas.org
“Last year we entered this challenge with 30 days left — Mayor Boswell was challenged by the mayor of Brownsville — so with 30 days left, we thought, well, let’s just give it a try,” said Sandra Flinn, chair of Mayor Chris Boswell’s Health and Fitness Council.
“And in 30 days we had 28,000 individual activations which placed our school district in first and our city in fifth out of the state in all the cities in our size range,” Flinn said.
“We know we have people that are active every single day, people post it on Facebook, every day, twice a day … Now we want to guide them to It’s Time Texas which is a leader in preventative care and getting people to be active and healthy,” Flinn added.
At the kickoff event Monday night at Pendleton Park, city officials, school officials and around 70 residents gathered to encourage more active lifestyles and lead by example with a couple loops around the park’s trail.
Boswell, looking jaunty in shorts and running shoes, asked people to join him to jog along the new Pendleton Park trail.
“One of the things we want to do is to encourage you to use all the city facilities that we have in our community,” the mayor said. “This trail, the 25th Street trail, the city lake, McKelvey Park and the Arroyo hike-and-bike trail, all those places in our community that are set up to invite you out to walk and to be active.
“The other thing we want to do is we want to encourage you to sign up with our Parks and Recreation Department,” Boswell added. “They have Zumba classes, they have dancing classes, they have all kinds of things that you can do to help you become healthier and more active in our community.”
“Also, we’re going to tell you tonight how you can record things that you’re doing so you can help Harlingen win the It’s Time Texas Challenge!” he said. “We want to win this challenge this year.”
Dr. Arturo Cavazos, HCISD superintendent, said for him healthier lifestyles and preventative care are even more important this year.
“On a personal note, I will share with you, that over the holidays I lost my older brother to the very two things that we highlight as killers as far as not staying healthy,” Cavazos said.
“My brother was a diabetic and he had some heart problems, and he passed away over the holidays at the age of 57, so this is very personal to me also,” he said. “I want to make sure that I serve as a role model for our over 3,000 employees and 19,000 students, because it’s through being a role model and working together that we can push each other to ensure that we stay healthy.”
The contest runs until March 31. Sponsors include HEB, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, SNAP and the RGK Foundation.
