THE USUAL
Mickey Pleasants, Lorraine Phillips, Jayne VanGraafeiland and Vicky Langley
MALL WALKERS Fitness, friendship and a bit of fashion in the hours before the stores are open by LORI D. R. WIGGINS
W
hen architect Victor Gruen built the first shopping center more than a half-century ago, he’d envisioned its role in commerce, yet dreamed of its function in the future as a sort of suburban town square. Malls, he believed, could be a place where people would meet and gather to socialize in celebration and for recreation. A few decades later, it seems Gruen’s
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photography by BOB KARP
dream has come true: Findings show malls are second only to neighborhoods as the most popular place to walk, according to Mall Walking: A Program Resource Guide by the University of Washington Health Promotion Research Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s right: These malls are made for walking. Just ask Mickey Pleasants and Vicky Langley. Together, they’ve walked the
stretches between Crabtree Valley Mall’s anchor stores for 33 years. Ten years ago, Lorraine Phillips and Jayne VanGraafeiland turned their duo to four. “We were hoping to lose weight—and we still do, hope to lose weight,” Langley snickers. “But we really do it for the exercise, and we enjoy each other’s company. Mickey would fuss at me if I didn’t show up. That keeps you going; keeps you honest.” It’s simple, says Pleasants. “We expect
