Walking toward a connected valley: Best Buddies Friendship Walk slated for Sunday in Basalt

For Michelle Stiller, this event hits close to home.

Aiming to provide support and opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a Best Buddies Friendship Walk is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 2, at Basalt River River Park. Registration is currently open, and attendees are encouraged to register prior to the event. Check-in will begin at noon.

“For people like myself who have children with disabilities living in this valley, it’s personal, and it’s beautiful to see our friends and neighbors and community businesses show up,” Stiller, Best Buddies Roaring Fork Valley area director, said.

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Best Buddies is an international non-profit that provides job opportunities, family support, and helps form close friendships for individuals with IDD. The Friendship Walk is an opportunity to donate to the organization and show support for people in the Roaring Fork Valley who have IDD. 

“If people with IDD can experience and feel invited into a conversation that is accessible around inclusion then the walk is really a springboard … to hopefully invite them to join us,” said Rachael Fischer, the Colorado state director for Best Buddies.

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The event will have a petting zoo hosted by Windwalkers, DJay Naka G, and lawn games. Attendees have the opportunity to participate in the One Minute Dance Party and indulge in food provided by local restaurants including Free Range and Paradise Bakery. The event will be wheelchair accessible, and there will be an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter onstage. The event will run from 1 p.m. when the walk starts until 3 p.m.

“I wish we called it a Friendship Festival because the celebration around friendships and inclusion and seeing the guests and parents and everyone is really what the event is focused on,” Fischer said.

According to Stiller, Best Buddies in the Roaring Fork Valley is a relatively new area of development for the Best Buddies organization. The prom Best Buddies hosted in March was one of the first events put on in the valley. 

“We had expected about 75 people and ended up getting 200 people to show up, so it was a huge success,” local Best Buddies Event Chair and former volunteer Grayson Rutherford said. 

Best Buddies hopes to set up chapters in all valley schools and to have better participation and engagement in local events.

“We want those chapters to be a beacon for the rest of Best Buddies International, where they look to the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado as a great example and a pillar of what Best Buddies should look like in its best form,” Rutherford said.

One of Best Buddies’ aims is to connect people with IDD with other people and help them create lasting friendships. Some adult friendships have lasted more than 20 years. The school chapters hope to create friendships that last the school year and, hopefully, stretch beyond that.

The event is free and offers people not only the opportunity to connect with their community members, but also enjoy the amenities provided, like the Wind Walkers Petting Zoo. 

“It is a very low-hanging fruit,” Fischer said. “So someone who finds themselves with a few hours on Sunday afternoon (June 2) and they want to come enjoy music from DJ Naka G see the petting zoo, this is that opportunity to do so.”

To register for the walk on June 2, visit: bestbuddiesfriendshipwalk.org/roaringfork/register/
To become a volunteer buddy visit: forms.bestbuddies.org/4895599