Lexington, KY - When Kathleen Martin, the vice president of Get Healthy Lexington - a partnership organization for local businesses and organizations interested in making the community more healthy - saw Lexington ranked as the most sedentary city in the nation by Men's Health magazine in late June, she, like many other residents, saw the title as a scurrilous blemish.
Major media outlets across the country pounced, and Lexington was thrust into an unflattering vortex of national ridicule -
epitomized by a segment on the Comedy Central satirical news program "The Colbert Report," where the show's host, Stephen Colbert, mockingly presented Lexington with a "Golden Grabber Award."
But Martin also saw an opportunity, and, in defiance of the Men's Health study, she wasn't going to take it sitting down. Never waste a good crisis, as the saying goes.
"It actually puts a little wind in our sails and allows us to make some noise," she said.
Taking advantage of the negative press and firestorm of local incredulity, Get Healthy Lexington got busy enunciating a cohesive visual and written rebuttal to the listing in Men's Health. Martin penned an open letter to the magazine's editors, and her organization began soliciting photo submissions throughout July from residents illustrating how they like to be active, which would in turn be compiled into a video montage.
Martin plans on sending the video to the Men's Health editors and to Stephen Colbert, with an invitation for them to attend a tongue-in-cheek event Get Healthy Lexington will be hosting -
"The Sedentary Parade."
Get Healthy Lexington has partnered with 2nd Sunday, a statewide program originating in Lexington to promote more active lifestyles, to host the parade during 2nd Sunday's annual festival in October, when many downtown streets are closed off to automobile traffic to make way for a multitude of pedestrian-friendly fitness activities. Martin speculated that the stationary parade has a lot of humorous possibilities: a non-marching band, floats with people playing video games, columns of lazy boys - all sarcastic nods to the city's purported lethargic reputation.
The stunt is the type of ridiculous gimmick Martin feels Colbert, as well as other media personalities, will find irresistible, especially since they also plan on offering Colbert a spot as the grand marshall of the stationary parade, she said.
Of course, the plan is to then showcase the hundreds of people who have gathered downtown for the 2nd Sunday festival - hopefully to camera crews.
"We were trying to think of something that would highlight kind of what they think we do versus what we know we do," Martin said. "While we do like to make fun of ourselves, seriously, we're not sitting still - and we're not going to take this sitting still. Or lying down, if you want to be even more sedentary."
The Sedentary Parade is planned to take place during the 2nd Sunday festival on Oct. 9. To get involved, visit www.gethealthylexington.net or e-mail contact@gethealthylexington.net. For more information on other events scheduled during 2nd Sunday, visit www.2ndsundayky.com.