- April 26, 2024
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Ormond Beach residents Randi Stevens and Gretchen Puts make a lap across the Granada Bridge. Paige Wilson
Ormond Beach resident Lu Whitton walks for her son, T. Corey Welter, a U.S. Air Force veteran. Paige Wilson
Frank Scott, a U.S. Army veteran and a host on 104.7 FM, is on his 26th walk across the Granada Bridge. Paige Wilson
Palm Coast resident June Brown, a U.S. Army veteran, and Ormond Beach resident Bridgitte Keafer walk over the Granada Bridge. Photo by Paige Wilson
Lu Whitton walks for her son, T. Corey Welter, a Air Force veteran. Paige Wilson
Station Owner Patti Miracle holds up her patriotic pups, Polly and Dolly. Paige Wilson
As Frank Scott hiked up the Granada Bridge for the 26th time Saturday, he didn’t show any tiredness or hesitation. With headphones around his neck, he listened to 104.7 FM The Rock of Daytona as he made one of his final laps over the bridge during sunset in Ormond Beach.
“I try to increase it every year,” Scott said. “The first year I did 23 miles, and last year, 25 miles, so I’m shooting for 27 today.”
The third-annual Steps for Vets event was held on Veterans Day, Saturday, Nov. 11. From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., locals made the one-mile trek over the bridge, which is about 1,047 steps, to honor veterans. Many went back and forth for several laps throughout the day.
“I’m really walking for all veterans,” Scott said. “I’m a veteran myself. There are a lot of veterans who were put in positions where they had to endure an awful lot, so I try to walk a little farther every year as kind of a tribute to them and to honor them.”
Scott, a U.S. Army veteran, is one of the hosts at 104.7 during the Frank and Tracy Morning Show. He said the station will soon add up the donations and an estimate on the number of walkers.
For every $104.70 donation, the radio station team and local supporters walk a leg of the bridge, but any donation is welcome.
The money raised goes to the Veterans Support Fund, a nonprofit based in Daytona to help disabled veterans in Volusia County. Last year, the radio station raised about $6,500, said Station Owner Patti Miracle.
“It’s heartwarming because I know where the money is going,” Miracle said. “When you donate to an organization that supports veterans all over, that gets split up. … But we know that it stays here and is local, and I get to see the outcome from the beginning to the end.”
She said that last year, people walked over 530,000 steps to honor veterans.
“I think that no matter what is going on in the world, we always have to appreciate what our veterans have done for this county,” Scott said. “A lot of them have made great sacrifices, and we should always honor them and remember them and come out and walk and do things like this.”
